PM Benjamin Netanyahu address to the 73rd UN General Assembly, 27 Sep 2018 — the 'secret atomic warehouse' map speech

Distinguished Delegates, Ladies and Gentlemen,

When I spoke here, three years ago, Israel stood alone among the nations. Of the nearly 200 countries that sit in this hall, only Israel openly opposed the nuclear deal with Iran. We oppose it because it threatens our future, even our very survival. We oppose it because the deal paved Iran's path to a nuclear arsenal. And by lifting the sanctions, it's fueled Iran's campaign of carnage and conquest throughout the Middle East. We oppose it because the deal was based on a fundamental lie — that Iran is not seeking to develop nuclear weapons.

Now, Israel exposed that lie earlier this year. Last February, Israel conducted a daring raid on Iran's secret atomic archive. We obtained over 100,000 documents and videos that had been stashed in vaults in an innocent looking building in the heart of Tehran.

Given this inaction, I decided to reveal today something else. 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 materiel from Iran's secret nuclear weapons program.

It's right here, in the Turquz-abad District of Tehran, just three miles away [from the previous Shor-abad archive site]. Now for those of you at home using Google Earth, this no-longer-secret atomic warehouse is on Maher Alley, Maher Street.

Why did Iran keep a secret atomic archive and a secret atomic warehouse? Because, after all, when South Africa and Libya gave up their nuclear programs, the first thing they did was to destroy both the archives and the material and equipment. The answer is simple. The reason Iran didn't destroy its atomic archive and its atomic warehouse is because it hasn't abandoned its goal to develop nuclear weapons.

Israel knows what you're doing, and Israel knows where you're doing it. Israel will never let a regime that calls for our destruction to develop nuclear weapons. Not now, not in ten years, not ever.

And Israel will do whatever it must do to defend itself against Iran's aggression. We will continue to act against you in Syria. We will act against you in Lebanon. We will act against you in Iraq. We will act against you whenever and wherever we must act to defend our state and defend our people.

Three years ago, a few weeks after the nuclear deal was completed, I asked this question from this very podium: Does anyone seriously believe that flooding Iran's radical theocracy with weapons and cash will curb its appetite for aggression? But many of the deal's supporters believed just that… Well, this didn't happen. Instead, Iran used the money to fuel its vast war machine.

Just this past year, Iran has attacked Kurds in Iraq, slaughtered Sunnis in Syria, armed Hezbollah in Lebanon, financed Hamas in Gaza, fired missiles into Saudi Arabia, and threatened freedom of navigation in the Straits of Hormouz and the Strait of Bab al Mandeb.

Some peace. Some moderation.

Think about this: The same week Iran was caught red-handed trying to murder European citizens, European leaders were rolling out the red carpet for President Rouhani, promising to give Iran even more money. Have these European leaders learned nothing from history? Will they ever wake up?

In Lebanon, Iran is directing Hezbollah to build secret sites to convert inaccurate projectiles into precision guided missiles, missiles that can target deep inside Israel within an accuracy of ten meters. Hezbollah is deliberately using the innocent people of Beirut as human shields. They have placed three of these missile conversion sites alongside Beirut's international airport.

Here's the first missile site. It's in the Ouzai neighborhood on the water's edge, a few blocks away from the runway. Here's the second site. It's underneath a soccer stadium. And here's the third site. It's adjacent to the airport itself, right next to it.

Israel is deeply grateful to President Trump for his bold decision to withdraw from the disastrous nuclear deal with Iran. Many, many of our Arab neighbors are also grateful.

But I have an important confession to make. The Iran deal has had one positive consequence, an unintended one, but a positive consequence. By empowering Iran, it brought Israel and many Arab states closer together than ever before, in an intimacy and friendship that I've not seen in my lifetime and would have been unimaginable a few years ago.

Israel deeply values these new friendships, and I hope the day will soon arrive when Israel will be able to expand peace, a formal peace, beyond Egypt and Jordan to other Arab neighbors, including the Palestinians.

[… attacks on Abbas's Hitler-dissertation past, pay-to-slay policy, and PA death-sentences-for-land-sales elided…]

It's the same old antisemitism with a brand new face. Once, it was the Jewish people that were slandered and held to a different standard. Today, it's the Jewish state that is slandered and held to a different standard.

What is unique about the Jewish people is not that we have a nation state. What is unique is that many still oppose us having a nation state.

In Israel, whether you are a Jew or an Arab, a Christian or a Muslim, a Druze or a Beduin, or anything else, your individual rights are exactly the same, and they will always remain the same.

In the Middle East, where women are often treated as property, minorities are persecuted, gays are hanged, Israel stands out as a shining example of freedom and progress.

Most of all I am proud of the people of Israel, who draw extraordinary strength from the deep wellsprings of our heritage, who possess an unbreakable spirit and who are determined as ever to build a secure and magnificent future for the one and only Jewish state.