Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas made his official request to the Security Council on Friday, asking it to grant Palestine full membership in the United Nations.

Abbas received numerous standing ovations during his 40-minute speech, but the longest, most hearty applause came when he held up a copy of the letter requesting membership that he had handed to U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon just before his speech.

“The time has come,” Abbas said.

But not everyone thought so. Less than an hour after Abbas finished speaking, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu took to the lectern and criticized much of what Abbas said. He took a stab too at the United Nations, calling it “a theater of the absurd.” –BF

Watch Abbas’ full speech to the United Nations General Assembly below:

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