Twitter Doesn’t Know What to Make of Netanyahu's Praise of Penguins at UN

Reactions were mixed after the PM dropped props in favor of dad jokes in his address at the UN General Assembly

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An Emperor penguin on Peka Peka Beach of the Kapiti Coast in New Zealand, June 21, 2011
AP

Benjamin Netanyahu is known for bringing colorful props to his appearances at the UN general assembly, and commentators were eagerly anticipating the speech to see how the Israeli Prime Minister might top the bomb sketch of 2012, used by Netanyahu to illustrate the threat of a nuclear Iran. This year, however, no props were used during the speech. Instead, Netanyahu resorted to dad jokes, surprising the audience by comparing UN delegates to penguins and praising the Bible’s reviews on Amazon.

At the beginning of the speech, while describing his diplomatic trips around the world, Netanyahu concluded “I haven't yet visited Antarctica, but one day, I hope to go there. I want to go there, too, because I heard that penguins are also enthusiastic supporters of Israel. Now, you laugh, but penguins have no difficulty recognizing that some things are black and white, are right and wrong, and unfortunately, when it comes to UN decisions about Israel, that simple recognition is too often absent.”

Sadly, unlike bomb sketches, no actual penguins were brought to the assembly, although Bibi did employ a few other embellishments in his speech. While criticizing UNESCO for declaring the Tomb of the Patriarchs in Hebron a Palestinian World Heritage Site and recommending the audience read the Bible. “I highly recommend it. I hear it even got four and a half out of five stars on Amazon. And it's a great read. I read it every week.”

Meanwhile, on social media, users reacting to Netanyahu’s speech were not quite sure what to make to the penguins joke, deeming it “Bizarre”, and comparing it to Trump's "Rocket Man" comment earlier Tuesday.

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