Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu delivered a fiery address to the United Nations General Assembly on Thursday, defending his administration's actions in the Middle East and directly confronting political adversaries. "Devastating Iran’s nuclear facilities was hard. It was very hard to do. But for me, it was one of the easiest decisions I’ve ever had to make as prime minister,” Netanyahu asserted. "Because if we hadn’t done it, we’d all be dead!”
The atmosphere in the UN hall shifted as dozens of delegates from various countries walked out in protest before Netanyahu began his speech. In response to the walkout, Netanyahu remarked, “if there are any other moral cowards who haven’t yet left this hall, please do so now.” He further claimed that leaders of countries whose delegations exited had privately thanked him for striking Iran’s nuclear sites, characterizing their public actions as "mind-blowing hypocrisy."
Netanyahu dedicated a significant portion of his speech to criticizing his political opponents, whom he accused of spreading falsehoods about Israel and inciting anti-Jewish sentiment. He specifically called out New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani, labeling him antisemitic for suggesting that Israel's response to the Oct. 7 Hamas attack constituted genocide.
"Shame on you for distorting the facts. Shame on you for inverting victim and aggressor. Shame on you for spitting in the face of truth,” Netanyahu stated. "Mr. Mamdani, since you were elected mayor of this city, many jews no longer feel safe in New York.”
Mayor Mamdani responded to Netanyahu's remarks by accusing the Israeli prime minister of disseminating "baseless lies meant to sanitize his genocide of Palestinians.” Mamdani added, "Yet no lie can change the fact that he remains the subject of an International Criminal Court arrest warrant alleging war crimes and crimes against humanity.”
Netanyahu's visit to the U.S. was brief, and he was not scheduled to meet with President Trump, a departure from recent precedent that comes amid reports of strained relations between the two leaders. Despite recent tensions, Netanyahu praised Trump, calling him Israel's "no greater partner" in the "battle against the barbarians.”
Earlier on Thursday, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas addressed the assembly via video message from Ramallah, as the Trump administration had denied visas to him and other Palestinian officials for the event. Abbas described the situation faced by Palestinians as a "genocidal war" and urged the international community to take stronger action against Israel. "How long will some countries continue to remain silent about Israel, or continue supplying it with weapons that it uses against our people?" he questioned. "We will not leave our homeland. We will not accept displacement. And we will not allow anyone to decide our future on our behalf,” Abbas declared.