Netanyahu clarifies remarks comparing protestors with Iran, PLO

Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu departed early Monday morning for a state visit to the United States, starting in the state of California and then to New York City for the United Nations General Assembly.

"I am now leaving for the UN General Assembly where I will represent Israel before the nations of the world,” Netanyahu said at the Ben Gurion International Airport tarmac, in front of dozens of reporters.

In his remarks before departing, the Prime Minister caused an uproar by impying that Israelis protesting against his government's proposed judicial reforms were joining forces with the PLO and Iran in protesting the Jewish state.

“But this time we see demonstrations against Israel by people affiliated with the PLO, Iran, and others,” Netanyahu said in reference to the usual protests by the enemies of the Jewish state, as well as the Israeli citizens that will protest against the current government’s judicial reform.

“Nothing is surprising anymore, but that will not prevent me from representing Israel brilliantly and in the best way for all its citizens,” he added.

In response to criticism following Netanyahu's remarks, his office issued a clarification on Monday morning while the Prime Minister was still in the air en-route to California.

"When the Prime Minister used the word 'companions,' he was referring to the fact that while the Prime Minister of Israel was representing the State of Israel at the UN stage, Israeli citizens would demonstrate at the same time as PLO and BDS supporters - something that had never happened before," the statement read.

"It is to be hoped that the Israeli demonstrators will take at least a few minutes to demonstrate also against but denying the right to exist of the State of Israel," the statement concluded.

Former defense minister and National Unity opposition party chairman, Benny Gantz, also responded to the events, voicing favor for the protests, saying “it's no secret that these shared values ​​are now at the center of the dispute between us and the U.S. due to the coup led by the government and which continues to tear Israel apart from the inside.”

“The prime minister has the responsibility to reflect the reality as it is. That's how it should be between friends and partners,” Gantz argued, but he also warned of regional events.

“At the same time, we are in a period of tremendous security and political challenges facing us, ones we have not known since the Yom Kippur War,” the former Israeli Defense Minister and IDF Chief of Staff stated, in reference to the 1973 conflict that was one Israel’s hardest won wars.

“In this matter, the expected meeting with the President of the United States is of great importance, and I would like to wish the Prime Minister success in his mission and say in the clearest way - in all matters related to the country's security and its strategic interests, we will recover the government from the opposition,” Gantz concluded.