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Benjamin Netanyahu: How the Israeli Prime Minister reacted to being compared to Beyonce

US advocacy group J Street circulated a cartoon graphic of the  Israeli Prime Minister performing the “Single Ladies” dance on Monday

Jenn Selby
Friday 03 October 2014 13:53 BST
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Benjamin Netanyahu reacts to being compared to Beyonce by J Street protesters
Benjamin Netanyahu reacts to being compared to Beyonce by J Street protesters

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Earlier this week, Benjamin Netanyahu found himself the subject of online trolls (albeit peacemaking ones) using Beyoncé’s lyrics and likeness to promote a two-state Israel-Gaza solution.

US advocacy group J Street designed a cartoon graphic of the Israeli Prime Minister performing the “Single Ladies” dance in front of two women wearing leotards in the shape of the country.

The lines on said leotards? Well, they denote the borders of a potential Palestinian state in the West Bank and Gaza.

“If you like it then you should put a border on it,” reads the caption.

The image, which promptly circulated online, was accompanied by a petition asking for Netanyahu to show “his commitment to peace by proposing clear borders for a final agreement”.

Well, Netanyahu has since responded to the comparison.

Asked by Fusion reporter Jorge Ramos what he thought about being likened to the lion-maned queen of fierce, he chortled and said: “Well, there are a few differences.”

Sadly for J Street, he followed up his somewhat amusing response by reiterating his resistance to create a state of Palestine.

“No Israeli government would offer a border if there is a state there, a Palestinian state that is like Syria, that is like Gaza, that seeks to have our destruction and uses the area that we vacate… to attack us,” he said.

On Monday, Netanyahu delivered his annual address to the United Nations General Assembly in New York.

During his speech, he controversially equated criticism of his country’s recent 50-day bombardment of Palestinians in the Gaza Strip to the current US-led aerial strikes against terrorists of Isis (also known as the Islamic State).

“Hamas' immediate goal is to destroy Israel, but it has a broader objective,” he said. “When it comes to its ultimate goals, Hamas is Isis, and Isis is Hamas.”

He also likened Islamist extremism to Nazism.

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