Lebanese President Michel Sleiman commented Thursday on Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s threats against Lebanon and his statement that Lebanon “does not exist on the new world map.

Lebanese President Michel Sleiman commented Thursday on Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s threats against Lebanon and his statement that Lebanon “does not exist on the new world map."

Sleiman said that “Lebanon is a thousands of years old country. It is rooted in history and such statements will not affect its existence.”

During his reception of the Arab Reporters Association’s new council in the presidential palace, the Lebanese president said that “even though Lebanon does not receive the military and financial support that Israel gets, it is the only county that defeated Israel militarily, and the latter is still suffering from this defeat’s moral ramifications until today.”

Sleiman further indicated that “Lebanon, with its diversity and pluralism, is completely opposite from Israel’s racist regime, which could not find a place among the world systems that started approaching pluralism and diversity due to globalization.”

Considering that these two characteristics are the basis of the Lebanese system, Sleiman pointed out that “Lebanon is among the founders of the United Nations and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and Israel’s practices as well as Netanyahu’s statement only reflect contempt to the human value.”