Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu Gets Standing Ovation After Praising Trump At UN

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu received a standing ovation after praising US President Donald Trump for having “unequivocally backed Israel’s right to defend itself” during a United Nations address.

The ovation took place during an extended speech Mr Netanyahu gave to the UN on Thursday.

He said: “I want to use this opportunity to express Israel’s appreciation to President Trump and Ambassador Haley for the unwavering support they’ve provided Israel at the United Nations.”

This triggered a 20 second standing ovation which was joined by the entire Israeli delegation.

When the standing ovation subsided Mr Netanyahu claimed the Trump administration has “unequivocally backed Israel’s right to defend itself”.

He added: “They rightly pulled out of a morally bankrupt UN human rights council.”

Mr Netanyahu went on to state that the UN human rights council has made “more resolutions about Israel than the rest of the world combined I think.

“Ten-fold compared to Iran, Syria, you name it.”

The US announced it was leaving the UN human rights council back in June.

Nikki Haley, the US ambassador to the UN, termed it: “A protector of human rights abusers and a cesspool of political bias.”

However then UK Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson called the decision “regrettable”.

Trump also pleased the Israeli government by announcing in December that the US embassy in the country would move from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.

The new embassy opened in May and coincided with violent Palestinian protests.

Mr Netanyahu also used his UN address to claim that Iran has a secret nuclear weapons facility.

He said: “Today I am disclosing for the first time that Iran has another secret facility in Tehran.

“A secret atomic warehouse for storing massive amounts of equipment and material for Iran’s secret nuclear weapons program.

“Just last month they removed 15 kilograms of radioactive materials”.

In a powerful warning, Mr Netanyahu added: “Israel will do whatever it must do to defend against Iran’s aggression.”