Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu delivered a defiant address to the United Nations General Assembly on Thursday, dismissing accusations of genocide in Gaza as fabricated and asserting that Israel is justified in its military campaigns, including operations against Iran.
As Netanyahu approached the podium, numerous delegates staged a coordinated walkout. The Palestinian Mission to the UN had instructed member states to bring staff and collectively exit the hall upon his introduction. The resulting scene saw many seats remain empty as General Assembly President Khalilur Rahman repeatedly called for order.
Responding to the exodus, Netanyahu labeled the departing delegates “moral cowards.” He argued that Israel’s defense of itself simultaneously protects nations whose representatives had just left the chamber, claiming that several of those leaders have privately thanked Israel for destroying Iranian nuclear capabilities.
The allegations of genocide in Gaza were described by Netanyahu as “the biggest lie of the century.” His speech arrived following a week in which numerous world leaders accused Israel of committing genocide and war crimes in the Gaza Strip.
During his address, which analysts noted carried the tone of a domestic election campaign, Netanyahu utilized visual aids to underscore his points. He held up a pager to recall the September 17, 2024, incident where Israel remotely detonated thousands of devices distributed to Hezbollah militants in Lebanon, an attack that injured over 3,000 people and killed 12, including two children.
He also contextualized the October 7, 2023, Hamas-led assault that killed approximately 1,200 people by comparing the death toll to 40,000 Americans, or sixteen times the casualties of the September 11 attacks in New York.
Netanyahu expressed gratitude to US President Donald Trump for his decisive actions against Iran and reaffirmed his government’s resolve. “We will continue to win because we have no other choice,” he stated, noting that attacking Iran was one of the easiest decisions of his tenure.
Addressing violence by Israeli settlers in the West Bank, Netanyahu minimized recent incidents, characterizing them as the actions of a “handful of young juvenile delinquents” engaging in vandalism and arson. He condemned vigilantism but accused international leaders and press of exaggerating the scale of the unrest.
The prime minister’s visit to New York has been marked by controversy, including calls from NYC Mayor Zohran Mamdani for federal authorities to arrest him for alleged war crimes, though Mamdani acknowledged that local law enforcement lacks the jurisdiction to execute an International Criminal Court warrant.
Netanyahu reiterated his longstanding position that no Palestinian state will be established during his leadership and questioned the Palestinian Authority’s commitment to peace. Israel maintains that its settlements are legal, despite the international consensus that they violate international law.
No Palestinian state during his leadership is a clear message. It seems peace is the real casualty, not just infrastructure in Gaza.
Comparing 9/11 to October 7th feels like a cheap rhetorical trick. Minimizing settler violence as ‘juvenile delinquents’ ignores the systematic destruction on the ground.
Calling dissenters moral cowards is rich coming from a leader whose allies are walking out. The emptiness of those seats says more than any speech.
The walkout was dramatic, but his pager prop felt more like theater than diplomacy. Hard to take the ‘no choice’ argument seriously when he’s campaigning.