The United Nations General Assembly has been anything but united this week. President Trump threatened to “annihilate” Iran, the U.S. delegation walked out during the speech from Iran’s president, and the leader of the Palestinian Authority accused Israel of leading a “genocidal war.” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu took his turn at the podium on Thursday.
He received both applause and jeers as dozens of delegates walked out of his address.
The prime minister acknowledged their action, remarking, “If there are any other moral cowards who haven’t yet left this hall, please do so now.”
In his 38-minute speech, Netanyahu said that invading Iran was the “easiest decision’ he ever made, and he thanked President Trump for his bold leadership, while blaming Qatar and Turkey for spreading that narrative that Israel is committing genocide.
He challenged his critics, saying, “I want to ask you some questions: What genocidal regime gives a million vaccinations to the enemy’s population? What genocidal regime enables two million tons of food distribution in Gaza? That’s a ton for every person. Accusing Israel of genocide is the greatest lie of the century.”
With the son of Israel’s ambassador to the U.S. now seriously wounded this week in a car-ramming attack in Samaria, the prime minister criticized a one-sided U.N. focus on settler violence against Palestinians that is far outnumbered by Arab attacks on Israelis.
“It’s an obsession,” Netanyahu insisted. “I hear this discussion here – leaders of countries – and they say it with such importance, ‘We can’t stand settler violence’ –you don’t know what you’re talking about.”
Reminding delegates that Israel is the only place in the Middle East where Christianity is thriving, Netanyahu held up a Starlink internet device as he asked delegates where they were when the Iranian regime butchered their own civilians and targeted Iranian Christians.
“Mr. President, I’m going to leave this device with you so you can give it to the Iranian delegation. So when they defect, they will be able to freely tell their story on social media.”
The Israeli leader also singled out New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani, who has repeatedly called for his arrest.
“Mr Mamdani, you tried to stop me from coming here. You tried to silence me. Well, you can’t silence me; you can’t silence the truth,” he declared.
Then he challenged the world’s antisemitism and called for Jews worldwide to stand up.
“The anti-Semites of the world want to terrify our people. I have news for you: the days when Jews were defenseless victims marched to the slaughter – those days are over,” he concluded, drawing applause.
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