Israeli Ambassador to the UN Danny Danon (AP/Mary Altaffer, File)

Addressing the UN on the 71st anniversary of the historic vote to recognize a Jewish state in the ancient Jewish homeland, Israel’s ambassador  set out three conditions that would lead to a new era in the region.

The UN General Assembly convened on Thursday, marking the 71st anniversary of the historic vote on November 29, 1947, to recognize a Jewish state in the ancient Jewish homeland. Under discussion was a series of resolutions against Israel as part of a Palestinian initiative.

Israel’s ambassador to the United Nations, Danny Danon emphasized the process that Israel and the Palestinians have undergone since November 29.

“Seventy years have passed since the UN vote and the Palestinians are still in the same place, wasting decades spreading hate and financing terror, and choosing to remain in the past. Israel knows how to transform nothing into something miraculous, into a country in which freedom makes it possible to develop great ideas that spread across the world,” he said.

The ambassador turned to the Palestinians and set out three conditions that would lead to a new era in the region: “Recognize Israel as the nation-state of the Jewish people; stop the terrorist payments and incitements; and choose a leadership that is committed to the Palestinian people. Only when these conditions materialize can we continue forward in the region.”

“If the international community does not condemn Hamas, it will actually encourage the terrorist organization responsible for the kidnapping of the bodies of Oron Shaul and Hadar Goldin,” he said, referring to the IDF soldiers killed in Operation Protective Edge in 2014 and whose remains Hamas is refusing to return to Israel.

On the General Assembly stage, Danon donned a skullcap and blessed the people of Israel with a chapter from Psalms.