Netanyahu: Hamas, Islamic State group share creed

UNITED NATIONS — In a blistering speech to the United Nations, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned on Monday that Hamas and the Islamic State group are "branches of the same poisonous tree," both bent on world domination through terror, just as the Nazis were.

Netanyahu also lashed back at Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, who accused Israel last week of carrying out "war crimes" and conducting a "war of genocide" during the fighting in Gaza. Netanyahu said Hamas committed "the real war crimes" in Gaza by using Palestinian civilians as human shields.

Addressing the U.N. General Assembly's annual ministerial meeting, the Israeli leader argued that Israel's fight against Hamas and the U.S. military campaign against the Islamic State are part of the same cause — the defeat of militant Islam.

Netanyahu railed against world leaders who have condemned Israel for its war with Hamas even as they praised President Barack Obama for attacking Islamic State militants and other extremists in Syria and Iraq.

"ISIS and Hamas are branches of the same poisonous tree," the prime minister said, referring to the Islamic State group by one of its acronyms. He added: "When it comes to its ultimate goals, Hamas is ISIS, and ISIS is Hamas."

Netanyahu said ISIS and Hamas — as well as other Islamic extremist movements, including al-Qaida — share the goal of imposing militant Islam on the world. He likened them to "another fanatic ideology that swept into power eight decades ago" — Nazism.

Turning to another regional enemy, Netanyahu warned again about the danger of a nuclear-armed Iran and said Iranian President Hassan Rouhani's condemnation of the spread of terrorism last week amounted to "one of history's greatest displays of doubletalk."

Netanyahu accused Iran of mounting terrorist attacks all around the world, and lumped the country in with Islamic extremist movements. "To say that Iran doesn't practice terrorism is like saying Derek Jeter never played shortstop for the New York Yankees," he said.

He criticized the efforts of six world powers to reach a nuclear deal with Iran, saying, "To defeat ISIS and leave Iran as a potential nuclear power is to win the battle and lose the war."

He also launched a scathing attack on the U.N. Human Rights Council, accusing it of singling out Israel for criticism when other parts of the world are "steeped in tyranny and terror." He called the Human Rights Council's name "an oxymoron" and charged that the body has become "a terrorist rights council."

Netanyahu said the council's treatment of Israel reflects "the return of one of the world's oldest prejudices."

"It's called anti-Semitism. It is now spreading in polite society, where it masquerades as legitimate criticism of Israel," he said.

Hanan Ashrawi, a member of the Palestine Liberation Organization's executive committee, said Netanyahu's speech was "a blatant manipulation of facts" aimed at misleading world leaders "through a combination of hate language, slander and argument of obfuscation."

In his address, Netanyahu questioned how Israel can be accused of genocide, saying no country has gone to greater lengths to avoid civilian casualties by warning Gaza civilians before attacks on neighborhoods.

"In what world is genocide warning the enemy's civilians in advance?" he asked.

To make his point about the Palestinians putting weapons in civilian areas, Netanyahu held up a photo he said was taken by a French TV network showing two rocket launchers near an apartment building where three children were playing.

"Israel was using its missiles to protect its children. Hamas was using its children to protect its missiles," he declared.

During the 50-day Gaza war, which ended Aug. 26, Israel launched thousands of airstrikes against what it said were Hamas-linked targets in the densely populated coastal territory, while Gaza militants fired several thousand rockets at Israel.

More than 2,100 Palestinians were killed, the vast majority civilians, along with more than 70 Israelis.

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Associated Press Writers Alexandra Olson and Cara Anna contributed to this report from the United Nations.