The Israeli prime minister defended military strikes and lashed out at European allies and New York’s mayor as dozens of diplomats walked out.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu used his address at the United Nations General Assembly on Thursday to attack critics, opponents, and long-standing allies, prompting walkouts and shouting inside the chamber.
Dozens of foreign envoys walked out of the hall as the speech began, with some booing while Netanyahu’s delegation stood and applauded. The session’s speaker shouted for order before Netanyahu addressed those exiting, saying, “If there are any other moral cowards who haven’t left this hall, please do so now.”
Netanyahu defended the joint military assault launched by the United States and Israel against Iran in February. He said striking Iranian nuclear facilities was “one of the easiest decisions I’ve ever had to make as prime minister” and argued that without the strikes, “we’d all be dead.” On Wednesday, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian had criticized what he termed a double standard at the assembly, stating that Israel possesses nuclear weapons while Iran faces sanctions and inspections. Netanyahu told the assembly that Israel is fighting a “seven-front war” across Gaza, the occupied West Bank, Syria, Lebanon, Iran, Yemen’s Houthis, and Iraqi militias.
Criticism of European allies and New York’s mayor
Netanyahu singled out France and the United Kingdom, which have both placed limited sanctions on exports from the occupied West Bank and criticized Israeli policy. “They accuse Israel, tiny Israel, of colonialism – some colonialism. And who’s accusing us? Among them are people in Britain and in France. For God’s sakes, they invented the term,” he said.
He also focused on New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani, who previously said he would seek Netanyahu’s arrest during the visit. Calling Mamdani an “anti-Semitic mayor,” Netanyahu said the mayor could not silence him. Mamdani responded by calling the remarks “baseless lies” aimed to “sanitise his genocide of Palestinians.”
US ties, protests, and election pressures
Netanyahu praised United States President Donald Trump, calling him Israel’s greatest partner and noting that pilots from both nations had carried out joint flights over Iran. While Netanyahu attended the meeting despite an International Criminal Court arrest warrant issued in 2024 over alleged war crimes in Gaza, the Trump administration refused a visa to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas. Abbas addressed the gathering earlier Thursday through a prerecorded video from Ramallah.
Outside the United Nations, Jewish Voice for Peace organized demonstrations against the visit, calling Netanyahu a war criminal. Police detained several protesters gathered nearby, including actor Susan Sarandon.
Netanyahu faces an election on October 27. Ariel Cohen, a senior fellow at the Atlantic Council’s Eurasia Center, told Al Jazeera the address was aimed at domestic voters rather than an international crowd. Netanyahu is making a brief trip to New York without meetings scheduled with top US leaders before returning to Israel for the campaign.
