Netanyahu defends Israeli military action as delegates walk out before UN speech

NEW York, United States, Sep 25 — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has fiercely defended his country’s military campaigns in Iran, Gaza and elsewhere in the Middle East in a speech to the UN General Assembly.

After dozens of delegates walked out in protest as he took to the stage, Netanyahu vowed to continue fighting: “We’re going to win. We have no other choice.”

In response to the walkout, he said: “If there are any other moral cowards who haven’t left the hall, please do so now.”

The Israeli leader also rejected accusations that Israel is committing genocide in Gaza.

Hours earlier, in a recorded message Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas told the UN that 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”.

He also said it jeopardised the two-state solution, which is an internationally backed formula for peace between Israel and the Palestinians.

Abbas said that Palestinians were being subjected to “killing, destruction, starvation and attempts at displacement, as well as a genocidal war” in Gaza by the Israeli military.

The Palestinian leader was addressing the annual gathering via a video link because he had been denied a US entry visa.

Reconstruction has yet to begin in Gaza almost a year after a ceasefire came into force

Netanyahu, who is subject to an International Criminal Court arrest warrant for alleged war crimes, 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 went on to label Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan a “tyrant”, accusing him of supporting the Palestinian armed group Hamas.

Erdogan told the UN on Tuesday that the injustices faced by those in Gaza and the West Bank “deeply offends the conscience of humanity”.

Netanyahu’s comments drew a sharp response from the Turkish presidency’s communications director Burhanettin Duran.

The Israeli PM’s use of the UN General Assembly podium to level “baseless accusations” against Turkey and Erdogan was incompatible with the UN’s “ideals of peace, law and dialogue”, Duran said, according to state-run news agency Anadolu.

New York City’s left-wing mayor Zohran Mamdani – who had previously vowed to arrest Netanyahu but later said he did not have the authority to do so – was also criticised by the Israeli leader.

“Since you were elected mayor of this city, many Jews no longer feel safe in New York,” the Israeli prime minister said.

In a statement, Mamdani’s office said Netanyahu “used his speech to repeat baseless lies meant to sanitize his genocide of Palestinians”.

Netanyahu also thanked US President Donald Trump for his “bold leadership”, referring to the air strikes the US and Israel jointly launched against Tehran in February.

“Israel and America acted together not only to protect ourselves, but to save civilisation,” he said.

Election campaign looms

Much of Netanyahu’s speech was pitched at the two audiences he needs to convince the most: Israelis as he faces a critical election at home next month, and Americans as Israel faces growing isolation and fractures in support abroad.

In Israel, Netanyahu’s once unrivalled image as “Mr Security” has come under increasing scrutiny in what is the first election since the 7 October 2023 attacks.

Some political opponents have argued he is unfit for office following Israeli media reports, firmly denied by Netanyahu, that he did not heed warnings of a potential attack by Hamas.

His characteristic defiance at the UN podium will be replayed in a campaign seeing his religious-right wing coalition trailing in the polls.

Netanyahu appeared to have pre-scripted his comments about “moral cowards” as he faced a mass walkout.

It will likely be used as he tries once again to burnish an image as being the only Israeli politician that can truly take on Israel’s growing number of global critics.

There were also clearly marked references meant for American audiences, including the joint US-Israeli strikes on Iran and his praise for Trump.

Netanyahu, who was born in Israel but spent his formative years in Pennsylvania, has always tried to present himself as having a unique ability to pitch Israel’s case in the US.

Despite continued weapons supply from Washington, he faces an increasingly sceptical public.

Polls suggest plummeting support for Israel among Democrats, and a fracture in historically high levels of backing among Republicans which has spread to Trump’s Maga base.

Celebrity protesters held

A number of people protesting against Netanyahu’s visit were detained in New York City.

Among them were the Oscar-winning actress Susan Sarandon and Emmy-winning Hacks actress Hannah Einbinder.

Also detained were Democratic congressional candidate Darializa Avila Chevalier and New York City council member Chi Osse.

A spokesperson for the NYPD said officers had responded to reports of an “unscheduled demonstration” where protesters were blocking a junction.

Actress Susan Sarandon was among demonstrators detained near the UN

The Israeli military launched a ground offensive in the Gaza Strip after the 7 October 2023 Hamas attack against Israel, in which about 1,200 people were killed and 251 others taken hostages.

During the Israeli military campaign more than 73,920 people have been killed in Gaza, according to the territory’s Hamas-run health ministry.

Last year, the world’s leading association of genocide scholars declared that Israel was committing genocide in Gaza.

A resolution passed by the International Association of Genocide Scholars (IAGS) stated that Israel’s conduct meets the legal definition as laid out in the UN convention on genocide.

Israel has regularly denied its actions in Gaza amount to genocide and says they are justified as a means of self-defence.

On 28 February, Israel and the US started launching massive air strikes on Iran, suspecting it of secretly building a nuclear weapon – a claim denied by Tehran.

Iran retaliated by carrying out missile and drone attacks on Israel and neighbouring Gulf Arab states which host US military bases.

Netanyahu calls Macron’s remarks on West Bank in UN speech ‘grotesque’

Trump’s Board of Peace unveils $2.45bn Gaza recovery plan