Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Friday that the number of Christians in Bethlehem “has dwindled” since coming under the control of the Palestinian Authority.
Netanyahu, in his address to the U.N. General Assembly on Friday morning, said, “The Palestinian Authority names its government buildings, its public squares, its schools after the mass murderers of Jews, which they glorify as martyrs.”
He added, “They pay and glorify not just the killing of Jews, but also killings of Christians. Christians, like Taylor Force, an American veteran who was brutally murdered in Israel by Palestinian terrorists” during a trip to Tel Aviv in 2016.
According to Netanyahu, the Palestinian Authority “teach their children to hate Jews and destroy the Jewish state,” adding, “And Christians don’t fare much better. When Bethlehem, the birthplace of Jesus, was under Israeli control, 80% of its residents were Christians. But since the PA took control, that number has dwindled to under 20%.”
He added, “These are the people you want to give a state to? What you are doing is giving the ultimate reward to intolerant fanatics who perpetrated and supported the Oct. 7th massacre. Giving the Palestinians a state one mile from Jerusalem after Oct. 7th is like giving Al-Qaeda a state one mile from New York City after Sept. 11th. This is sheer madness. It is insane and we won’t do it.”
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