Binyamin Netanyahu
Binyamin NetanyahuFlash 90

Hiding the truth about the Jewish nation’s connection to the land of Israel will not advance peace, Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu said Sunday at the opening of the weekly cabinet meeting.

Netanyahu reacted to the decision made by UNESCO, the UN’s cultural body, to postpone an exhibition on Israel’s Jewish history due to concern that it “might be perceived as endangering the peace process.”

The exhibit “won’t endanger negotiations. Negotiations that are based on the facts, on truth, cannot be endangered,” Netanyahu declared.

However, he warned, other UN behavior does hurt the chances for peace. “What does undermine talks is some states’ automatically summoning Israeli ambassadors over trivial matters, while serious violations by the Palestinian Authority get no response,” he charged.

“The biased approach to Israel does not advance peace – it delays peace,” he continued. “It strengthens the PA’s refusal to move forward in negotiations.”

The Prime Minister also had a warning for Hamas, in response to recent rocket attacks on Israel, and the Israeli response that followed.

“We are determined to maintain quiet in the south. We do this through a policy of preventative strikes, and also with a firm response to those who hurt us, or try to hurt us.

“I suggest to Hamas that it take this policy of ours into account,” he said.