Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said on Monday, September 24, that Israel has no roots in the Middle East and would be “eliminated,” ignoring a warning from U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon to avoid incendiary rhetoric ahead of the annual General Assembly session, Reuters reported. Ahmadinejad, who has used previous U.N. sessions to question the Holocaust and the U.S. account of the 9/11 attacks, expanded on his previous rejection of Israel’s right to exist. “They (the Israelis) have been occupying those territories for the last 60 to 70 years, with the support and force of the Westerners. They have no roots there in history,” he said, referring to modern Israel’s founding in 1948. “During a historical phase, they (the Israelis) represent minimal disturbances that come into the picture and are then eliminated.” The United States quickly dismissed the Iranian president’s comments as “disgusting, offensive and outrageous.”