Netanyahu calls Gaza genocide allegations “the biggest lie of the century” in fiery UN speech.
Scores of delegates walk out as Netanyahu defends Israel’s Gaza war and attack on Iran.
Netanyahu targets critics including Zohran Mamdani and rejects claims over Israeli settler violence.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Thursday rejected accusations that Israel is committing genocide in Gaza, calling the allegations “the biggest lie of the century” during a confrontational address to the United Nations General Assembly, where scores of delegates walked out as he took the podium.
The speech came after days of condemnation from world leaders over Israel’s war in Gaza and accusations that Netanyahu is responsible for the killing and suffering of Palestinians. Netanyahu used the address to defend Israel’s military campaign, justify its war against Iran and attack critics at home and abroad. According to Associated Press, his remarks also carried the tone of a campaign speech as Israel prepares for elections on October 27.
Netanyahu, who at several points became emotional and indignant while addressing his critics, delivered the speech during evening prime time in Israel. Among those he criticised was New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani, who has called for Netanyahu’s arrest.
As Netanyahu approached the rostrum, the chamber erupted in a mixture of cheers and boos, while scores of delegates left the hall. A majority of the visible seats remained empty after the walkout.
“Order in the hall, please,” General Assembly President Khalilur Rahman said repeatedly.
Netanyahu responded to the departing delegates by saying: “If there are any other moral cowards who have not yet left this hall, please do so now.”
He then argued that Israel’s military actions were also protecting countries whose representatives had walked out.
“In defending itself, Israel is also defending many of the countries whose delegates just left this hall,” Netanyahu said. “In fact, I want you to know that many of their leaders even thank us privately for taking out Iran’s nukes.”
Netanyahu defends Israel’s response to October 7
Netanyahu devoted a substantial part of his speech to the Hamas-led attack on Israel on October 7, 2023, which killed around 1,200 people and resulted in 251 others being kidnapped.
He compared the scale of the attack with the September 11, 2001, attacks in the United States.
“This is equal to 40,000 innocent Americans slaughtered in less than 24 hours,” he said.
Netanyahu described the figure as 16 times the death toll from the September 11 attacks, which killed nearly 3,000 people in New York, Pennsylvania and at the Pentagon.
Netanyahu said the October 7 attack left Israel with no choice but to strike Hamas.
Israel has faced accusations from multiple governments and international bodies of committing war crimes during its subsequent military offensive. Netanyahu himself faces an arrest warrant from the International Criminal Court over alleged crimes against humanity.
The Gaza war began after Hamas-led militants attacked Israel on October 7, 2023. Israel subsequently launched its offensive against Hamas.
At least 73,922 Palestinians have been killed in the Israeli offensive, according to the Gaza Health Ministry, part of the Hamas-run government. Associated Press reported that the figures from the ministry are generally considered reliable by the international community.
A ceasefire agreed by Israel and Hamas last October halted the heaviest fighting and led to the release of the remaining hostages. However, subsequent steps have stalled.
Israel continues to control most of Gaza and has carried out airstrikes against Palestinians near military-held areas. Hamas has neither disarmed nor given up control of Gaza, while there has been no progress towards reconstruction in the largely destroyed territory.
Netanyahu has said that no Palestinian state will be established while he remains Israel’s leader. He has also argued that the Palestinian Authority is not a partner for peace.
Netanyahu says attacking Iran was an easy decision
The Israeli prime minister also defended his decision to wage war against Iran, despite the wider economic disruption caused by the conflict.
He described the decision to attack Iran as one of the easiest he had made.
Netanyahu thanked US President Donald Trump for taking decisive action against Iran and predicted that the country’s theocratic government would eventually fall.
Trump had made a similar prediction when the war began nearly seven months ago. However, according to Associated Press, Iran’s government appears to remain firmly in control.
The conflict has had wider economic consequences, but Netanyahu continued to defend Israel’s decision to confront Iran.
The pager operation wounded more than 3,000 people and killed 12, including two children.
Netanyahu disputes scale of settler violence
Netanyahu also sought to counter international criticism over Israeli settler violence against Palestinians in the occupied West Bank.
He described those involved as a “handful of young juvenile delinquents” and referred to incidents in which Palestinians had faced attacks involving stones, the cutting down of olive trees and the burning of property.
“I can’t stand that. I won’t stand for vigilantism,” the prime minister said.
He then accused foreign leaders and the international press of distorting the scale of settler violence in the West Bank.
Netanyahu’s government is dominated by settlers and their political allies, and it has made few arrests in connection with the wave of settler violence.
Israel captured the West Bank and east Jerusalem during the 1967 war. Palestinians claim both territories as part of a future state, while Palestinians and most of the international community consider Israeli settlements illegal and an obstacle to the creation of a viable and contiguous Palestinian state.
The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs has recorded more than 1,600 settler attacks this year.
At least 104 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli settlers or soldiers during the same period, according to the Ramallah-based Palestinian Health Ministry. Four Israelis have been killed by Palestinians.
This week, a settler was killed in a Palestinian attack, while the son of Israel’s ambassador to the United States was badly wounded in a separate Palestinian attack.
Netanyahu attacks New York mayor
Netanyahu also targeted New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani, accusing him of spreading lies about Israel and endangering Jewish New Yorkers through his criticism of Israel’s military actions in Gaza.
Before Netanyahu arrived in New York, Mamdani had called him a “war criminal” and pushed for his arrest.
The mayor has acknowledged that New York City does not have the authority to execute an International Criminal Court arrest warrant. He has nevertheless urged US federal authorities to enforce the warrant.
Netanyahu has previously used his General Assembly speeches to accuse the United Nations of bias against Israel and to make Israel’s case before the international community.
This year’s address was the main part of a shortened US visit, as Israel faces growing international criticism over the Gaza war.
Abbas urges countries to act against Israel
Netanyahu addressed the General Assembly after Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas spoke earlier on Thursday through a prerecorded address from his office in Ramallah.
The United States denied Abbas a visa to attend the UN gathering in person for the second consecutive year.
Abbas used his speech to call for concrete international action against Israel and questioned why countries continued to supply Israel with weapons.
“How long will some countries continue to remain silent about Israel, or continue supplying it with weapons that it uses against our people?” Abbas said. “What, then, is the international community waiting for before it acts to protect the Palestinian people?”
World leaders had repeatedly raised the situation of Palestinians during speeches throughout the week before Netanyahu addressed the assembly.
The speech came as Israel faces international criticism over its conduct in Gaza, its policies in the occupied West Bank and its military confrontation with Iran.
