“I will not allow the Israeli delegation to be part of this cynical public relations…”

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was angered by the Iranian President Hasan Rouhani’s landmark speech at the UN General Assembly, saying the speech was a “cynical public relations ploy that presented a false picture of Iran’s nuclear program.”

Netanyahu, who is to address the UN General Assembly next week, said the Iranian leader’s speech “lacked both any practical proposal to stop Iran's military nuclear program and any commitment to fulfill UN security council decisions”.

In a statement issued immediately after the speech on Tuesday, Netanyahu said the address was filled with “hypocrisy”. "Despite Iran's charm offensive, the government's policy in Tehran toward Israel has not changed," Netanyahu said.

“It’s a good thing the Israeli delegation wasn’t in the hall,” Netanyahu said, adding “I will not allow the Israeli delegation to be part of this cynical public relations…”

Netanyahu's office said that he had instructed the Israeli envoy to walk out of the assembly during Rouhani's speech.

“Iran thinks that soothing words and token actions will enable it to continue on its path to the bomb,” Netanyahu said after US President Barack Obama said at the United Nations that Washington was ready to engage diplomatically with Iran over its nuclear program.

“I do believe that if we can resolve the issue of Iran’s nuclear program, that can serve as a major step down a long road towards a different relationship; one based on mutual interests and mutual respect,” Obama said.

Hours later, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani, told the world that Tehran is ready for talks on its nuclear energy program with complete transparency.

Rouhani urged Obama to reject “the short-sighted interest of warmongering pressure groups” if he wants "to manage differences" with Tehran. “Nuclear weapons and other weapons of mass destruction have no place in Iran's security and defense doctrine, and contradict our fundamental religious and ethical convictions,” he said.

Israeli analysts have expressed concern that Netanyahu’s hard-line approach towards Iran is leaving him isolated by allies who want to give diplomacy a chance.

“It’s a very dangerous and very awkward situation for Netanyahu to be perceived as the only naysayer and warmonger,” Dan Gillerman, a former Israeli ambassador to the United Nations, told the Times.

Dan Meridor, a veteran Israeli minister, said Israel should “speak positively” about Iran’s new president, invoking a Hebrew phrase that means “respect him and suspect him.”