Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu delivered a blistering address to the United Nations General Assembly on Thursday, lashing out at adversaries and longtime partners alike as dozens of diplomats walked out in protest.
Speaking before the international body, Netanyahu denounced Iran’s leadership, New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani, and a chorus of international critics. He also turned his fire on key allies, notably the United Kingdom and France, which have recently imposed limited sanctions on Israeli settlement goods and grown increasingly vocal about the conduct of the war in Gaza.
Domestically, the stakes are high: Netanyahu faces a pivotal election on October 27, and analysts suggest his rhetoric was calibrated as much for an Israeli audience as for the global stage.
The chamber erupted as he began. Envoys from numerous nations exited in coordinated fashion, some jeering, while Netanyahu’s delegation applauded. The session president repeatedly called for order.
“If there are any other moral cowards who haven’t left this hall, please do so now,” Netanyahu told departing diplomats.
He defended the joint U.S.-Israel strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities in February, calling the operation “very hard to do” but “one of the easiest decisions I’ve ever had to make as prime minister,” arguing the alternative would have been existential.
The previous day, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian had accused the international community of a double standard. “The nuclear weapon is in Israel, but the inspectors are in Iran. Israel kills, but Iran is subject to sanctions,” Pezeshkian said.
Netanyahu portrayed Israel as fighting a “seven-front war” spanning Gaza, the occupied West Bank, Syria, Lebanon, Iran, Yemen’s Houthis, and Iraqi militias. “We are going to win. We have no other choice,” he declared, invoking the words of his late brother Yonatan, killed during the 1976 Entebbe raid.
Allies in the Crosshairs
The United Kingdom and France, historic partners, absorbed some of Netanyahu’s sharpest barbs. Both have criticized Israel’s actions and imposed targeted sanctions on settlement products.
“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.
By contrast, he lavished praise on U.S. President Donald Trump. “In this battle against the barbarians, we’ve had no greater partner than President Trump,” Netanyahu said, drawing applause from both the Israeli and American delegations. He credited the two nations with flying joint missions over Iran and coordinating efforts to recover hostages held in Gaza.
Netanyahu also assailed Mayor Mamdani, who had vowed to pursue the prime minister’s arrest during his New York visit. “To all those spreading lies about my country, whether they sit in this hall or in the office of the anti-Semitic mayor of New York, I say this: shame on you,” Netanyahu said. “Mr. Mamdani, you tried to stop me from coming here. You tried to silence me. Well, you can’t silence me.”
Mamdani dismissed the allegations as “baseless lies” designed to “sanitize his genocide of Palestinians.”
Since October 7, 2023, Israel has faced mounting accusations of genocide and systematic war crimes in Gaza and the West Bank. In 2024, the International Criminal Court found reasonable grounds to believe Netanyahu bears responsibility for war crimes in Gaza, where Palestinian health authorities say over 73,000 people have been killed. Netanyahu rejects the charges.
The prime minister attended the General Assembly despite an ICC arrest warrant. Meanwhile, the Trump administration denied a visa to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, who addressed the assembly via pre-recorded video from Ramallah.
Protests and Political Calculus
Outside UN headquarters, activists from Jewish Voice for Peace demonstrated, accusing the organization of “playing host to a war criminal.” Communications director Sonya Meyerson-Knox told Al Jazeera that “solidarity with Palestinian freedom has never been greater” and demanded an end to U.S. military aid to Israel. Protesters carried “stop the genocide” banners; several were detained, including actor Susan Sarandon.
Inside the hall, Netanyahu appealed to national unity. “Throughout this long war, our goal never wavers — to win with unwavering resolve … What unites us is so much stronger: our history, our values, our courage.”
Ariel Cohen, a senior fellow at the Atlantic Council’s Eurasia Center, assessed the speech as effective but misplaced. “That speech should be given at an election rally in Israel; this is who he’s communicating to,” Cohen told Al Jazeera. “He is making points that should be made to the Israeli audience for his political survival.”
Netanyahu is making only a brief stop in New York before returning to Israel, where the campaign is in full swing. He is not scheduled to meet with senior U.S. officials during the visit.