World shouldn’t focus on Israeli settlements: Netanyahu

Defiant Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said the world should not focus on the illegal Israeli settlement construction on occupied Palestinian lands, amid global condemnation of the move.

The hawkish Israeli prime minister said the world should instead focus on what he called the “real challenges” of Iran and Syria instead of Tel Aviv’s settlement construction plans.

The world must “wake up” to the great challenges from Iran and Syria, he claimed.

Last month, Israeli officials said they would go ahead with plans to build 6,500 settler units on Palestinian territory, despite the opposition of the United Nations and the international community.

On December 19, 2012, all the members of the UN Security Council, except the United States, censured the Tel Aviv regime over its plan.

The Israeli settlements are considered illegal by the UN and most countries because those territories were captured by Israel in a 1967 war, and are thus seen as being subject to the Geneva Conventions, which forbids construction on occupied lands.

Netanyahu reiterated his baseless claims that Iran is pursuing military objectives in its nuclear energy program saying that the “responsible leaders” of the international community should address this challenge.

This is while Israel is the only possessor of nuclear weapons in the Middle East, widely known to have between 200 and 400 nuclear warheads.

The United States, Israel and some of their allies have repeatedly accused Iran of pursuing non-civilian objectives in its nuclear energy program.

Iran rejects the allegation and argues that as a signatory to the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) and a member of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), it is entitled to develop and acquire nuclear technology for peaceful purposes.