Israel’s ambassador to the United Nations, Danny Gillerman, on Tuesday warned of a new “terror axis” between Iran, Syria and Hamas, which could kick start “the first world war of the 21st century.”

Addressing the U.N. Security Council on a quarterly session to discuss international terrorism, Gillerman asked council members if their governments would agree to al-Qaeda or the Kurdish group PKK running in elections.

“Imagine al-Qaeda or the PKK running in elections? A dictator’s democracy is a dangerous false impression,” Gillerman told the Council.

Gillerman warned of Hamas’ venture in politics, saying “the world is witnessing a new alliance between Iran, Syria and Hamas, which constitutes an axis of terror.”

Gillerman evoked Iranian President Mahmoud Ahamadinejad’s January visit to Syria and the warm welcome in Tehran of Hamas leaders this week. Political leader Khaled Mashaal led a Hamas delegation to Iran where he said Iran will play a more central role in Palestinian affairs after guarantees for financial backing to the Palestinian government from the Islamic Republic.

“This new terror axis poses a big threat to regional and world stability, and is a recipe for the worst ever plague. If we ignore this imminent threat, the axis of evil will be the seeds of the first world war of the 21st century,” Gillerman said.

He called on the international community “to take seriously Syria, Hamas and Iran’s joint effort and to act seriously to prevent Iran, an extremist and dangerous government that supports terror, from acquiring the knowledge to develop nuclear arms.”

Gillerman said that the democratic elections in the Palestinian Authority cannot cover up Hamas extreme ideology which calls for the destruction of Israel. He invited Council members to read Hamas’ charter, a key provision of which calls for the murder of Jews and the annihilation of the Jewish state.