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

ByJaroslav Lukiv and Tom Bateman, State department correspondent. Updated 7 hours ago.

Key points

• Additionally detained were Democratic congressional candidate Darializa Avila Chevalier and New York City council member Chi Osse.
• 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.
• During the Israeli military campaign more than 73, 920 individuals have been killed in Gaza, according to the territory's Hamas-run health ministry.
• Netanyahu went on to label Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan a "tyrant", accusing him of supporting the Palestinian armed group Hamas.
• Among them were the Oscar-winning actress Susan Sarandon and Emmy-winning Hacks actress Hannah Einbinder.

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 remarked: "If there are any other moral cowards who haven't left the hall, please do so now."

Notably, the Israeli leader additionally rejected accusations that Israel is committing genocide in Gaza.

Hours earlier, in a recorded message Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas informed 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 additionally stated it jeopardised the two-state solution. It is an internationally backed formula for peace between Israel and the Palestinians.

According to Abbas, palestinians were being subjected to "killing, destruction, starvation and attempts at displacement, as well as a genocidal war" in Gaza by the Israeli military.

In practice, the Palestinian leader was addressing the annual gathering via a video link since he had been denied a US entry visa.

Netanyahu, who is subject to an International Criminal Court arrest warrant for alleged war crimes, introduced 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 individuals in Britain and in France. For God's sake, they invented the term, " he remarked.

Netanyahu additionally accused the media of misrepresenting violence by Jewish settlers in the occupied West Bank and stated "maybe two or three" individuals are killed a year.

But, according to figures published by the UN, 23 Palestinians have been killed in the context of settler attacks this year – and 72 since the beginning of 2023.

Erdogan informed 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.

In practice, the Israeli PM's employ 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 stated, according to state-run news agency Anadolu.

New York City's left-wing mayor Zohran Mamdani – who had previously vowed to arrest Netanyahu but afterwards stated he did not have the authority to do so – was additionally 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 remarked.

In an official note, Mamdani's office remarked Netanyahu "used his speech to repeat baseless lies meant to sanitize his genocide of Palestinians".

Netanyahu additionally thanked US President Donald Trump for his "bold leadership", referring to the air strikes the US and Israel jointly rolled out against Tehran in February.

"Israel and America acted together not only to protect ourselves, but to save civilisation, " he remarked.

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 backing abroad.

Some political opponents have argued he is unfit for office after 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 regarding "moral cowards" as he faced a mass walkout.

It will probable be employed 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 additionally 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 backing for Israel among Democrats, and a fracture in historically high levels of backing among Republicans which has spread to Trump's Maga base.

For context, a number of residents protesting against Netanyahu's visit were detained in New York City.

For context, a spokesperson for the NYPD remarked officers had responded to reports of an "unscheduled demonstration" where protesters were blocking a junction.

Notably, the Israeli military introduced a ground offensive in the Gaza Strip after the 7 October 2023 Hamas attack against Israel, in which concerning 1, 200 individuals were killed and 251 others taken hostages.

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

For context, 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.

In short, netanyahu defends Israeli military action as delegates walk out before UN speech is the central thread here, and readers can expect follow-up reporting as the picture becomes clearer.