Netanyahu disappointed in 'inciting' Turkish TV
During joint press conference with visiting Spanish counterpart, PM addresses Turkish TV series depicting IDF soldiers as child-killers, says, 'We hope Turkey will bolster peace and not extremist elements.' Zapatero: Holocaust will never be forgotten
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said following a meeting with Spanish counterpart Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero Thursday evening that he was "disappointed in the incitement on Turkish TV".
The PM was referring to a fictional TV show being broadcast on the state-run TRT1 channel which shows 'IDF soldiers' shooting innocent Palestinian children.
At a joint press conference in Jerusalem, Netanyahu said Israel's dissatisfaction with Turkey had been long-lived. "We hope Turkey will bolster peace and not extremist elements, and also work towards securing the ties between us, because this is an important country and relations with it are important for peace," he said.
"I hope we are not witnessing a fundamental change in the path Turkey had been on until a year or two ago."
Addressing the Goldstone Report, which claimed that the IDF committed war crimes during its December-January offensive in Gaza, Netanyahu said, "(The late) Abba Eban (former Israeli foreign minister) once said that the UN is capable of passing a resolution saying the earth is flat. This may be the decision they pass in Geneva (at the UN Human Rights Council session) – that the world is flat."
In a special session due to stretch into Friday, Geneva envoys met to consider a resolution that chastises Israel for failing to cooperate with the investigation headed by Justice Richard Goldstone into Operation Cast Lead in Gaza.
'Modern Spain remembers the Holocaust'
In the report circulated last month, Goldstone's investigators accused both Israel and Hamas of war crimes in Gaza, but were overall more critical of Israel than Hamas. Israel has rejected the charges in the report.
Netanyahu said Friday's vote could either "promote or hurt terror, hinder peace or advance it."
"Israel's only crime is that it does not have an automatic majority in the UN. We hope that all responsible countries will tomorrow vote against that decision, which aids and encourages terror and strikes at peace," he said.
"We know how absurd this decision is. We withdrew from every (inch) of Gaza, and we were told by the international community that we would be able to defend ourselves. But the thousands of rockets that were fired at our citizens forced us to launch an operation in Gaza, during which we went to great lengths so as not to harm civilians. The IDF is a moral army," said the PM.
Zapatero told reporters that the purpose of his visit was to strengthen Spain's relations with Israel and promote peace. He said that once Spain assumes presidency of the EU on January 1 it will work with the Obama Administration to advance a peace agreement that would ensure the establishment of an independent Palestinian state.
Asked about anti-Semitism in Spain, Zapatero said, "The slaughter of six million Jews will never be forgotten. Any form of anti-Semitism is contemptible and unacceptable.
"Anti-Semitism was prevalent in Spain when it was under the rule of the dictator Francisco Franco, who spoke of a secret coalition of Jews and freemasons. Modern Spain remembers the Holocaust and sympathizes with the suffering of the Jewish people," he said.
Reuters and AP contributed to the report
