Netanyahu to the U.N.: ‘Hamas Is ISIS, and ISIS Is Hamas’

Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu admonished countries assembled at the United Nations for supporting the military campaign against the Islamic State while simultaneously urging his own country to ease up on its foe Hamas, arguing both groups are run by violent jihadists with global ambitions.

“Last week, many of the countries represented here rightly applauded President Obama for leading the effort to confront ISIS,” he said during a General Assembly speech on Monday. “And yet weeks before, some of these same countries — the same countries that now support confronting ISIS — opposed Israel for confronting Hamas. They evidently don’t understand that ISIS and Hamas are branches of the same posionous tree.”

The Israeli head of state explained that both groups seek to export fundamentalist Islam beyond their borders. “Hamas is ISIS, and ISIS is Hamas,” he declared.