Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu delivered a defiant speech to the UN General Assembly, fiercely defending his country's military campaigns in Gaza, Iran and elsewhere in the Middle East, as dozens of delegates walked out in protest as he took to the podium.
Responding to the walkout, Netanyahu said: "If there are any other moral cowards who haven't left the hall, please do so now." He also vowed to continue fighting, declaring: "We're going to win. We have no other choice."
Netanyahu rejected accusations that Israel is committing genocide in Gaza and launched scathing attacks on nations and leaders who have criticised him. "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 sake, they invented the term," he said.
He also accused the media of misrepresenting violence by Jewish settlers in the occupied West Bank, claiming "maybe two or three" people are killed a year. According to UN figures, however, 23 Palestinians have been killed in the context of settler attacks this year, and 72 since the beginning of 2023.
Netanyahu labelled Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan a "tyrant" and accused him of supporting Hamas. Erdogan had told the UN on Tuesday that the injustices faced by those in Gaza and the West Bank "deeply offends the conscience of humanity." The Turkish presidency's communications director, Burhanettin Duran, responded sharply, saying Netanyahu's use of the UN podium to level "baseless accusations" against Turkey and Erdogan was incompatible with the UN's "ideals of peace, law and dialogue."
New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani was also targeted by Netanyahu, who said: "Since you were elected mayor of this city, many Jews no longer feel safe in New York." Mamdani's office responded in a statement, saying Netanyahu "used his speech to repeat baseless lies meant to sanitize his genocide of Palestinians." Mamdani had previously vowed to arrest Netanyahu but later said he did not have the authority to do so.
Netanyahu thanked US President Donald Trump for his "bold leadership," referring to joint US-Israeli air strikes against Tehran in February. "Israel and America acted together not only to protect ourselves, but to save civilisation," he said.
Hours before Netanyahu's address, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas delivered a recorded message to the UN, saying Israeli policies — in particular the illegal expansion of Jewish settlements in the occupied West Bank — threatened "the very life and existence of the Palestinian people on their homeland." Abbas said the situation also jeopardised the internationally backed two-state solution for peace between Israelis and Palestinians.
Abbas said Palestinians were being subjected to "killing, destruction, starvation and attempts at displacement, as well as a genocidal war" in Gaza. The Palestinian leader addressed the assembly via video link after being denied a US entry visa.
Netanyahu, who is subject to an International Criminal Court arrest warrant for alleged war crimes, delivered the speech ahead of a critical Israeli election next month — the first since the October 7, 2023 attacks. His once-unrivalled image as "Mr Security" has faced growing scrutiny, with some political opponents arguing he is unfit for office following reports, firmly denied by Netanyahu, that he did not heed warnings of a potential Hamas attack.
His defiant performance at the UN podium, including the pre-scripted response to the walkout, is expected to feature prominently in his campaign, as his religious-right coalition trails in the polls.
