Facing deepening international isolation and a looming general election on October 27 the Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu mounted a fiery defense of his military campaigns at the UN General Assembly on Thursday.
As Netanyahu took the podium the dozens of diplomats staged a walkout in protest against Israel's actions in Gaza. Waving toward those leaving Israeli prime minister labeled them "moral cowards" while supporters in the gallery cheered. The speech broadcast live in prime time across Israeli television functioned as both an address to world leaders and a campaign appeal to voters back home.
Netanyahu used the 40-minute address to reject allegations of genocide, claiming Israel had instead "prevented genocide." He launched sharp verbal attacks against international and local critics also the New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani who has called Netanyahu a war criminal as well as Western European leaders, Qatar and Turkey.
Responding to the speech Mayor Mamdani noted that "no lie can change the fact that he remains the subject of an International Criminal Court arrest warrant alleging war crimes." Representatives from Qatar and Turkey also swiftly dismissed Netanyahu’s remarks as baseless attempts to distract from the ongoing humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza.
To reinforce his security credentials the Netanyahu displayed visual props, including a pager referencing the 2024 strikes against Hezbollah in Lebanon. Outside the UN headquarters, hundreds of demonstrators protested US military aid to Israel with leading to several arrests by police.
Netanyahu’s brief visit to New York notably lacked a meeting with US President Donald Trump an absence analysts called politically damaging. However Netanyahu praised Trump repeatedly during his address also asserting that Israel would maintain its regional military operations despite mounting diplomatic pressure.
