Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu delivered at the United Nations on Thursday a vehement defense of Israel’s actions in the region, aiming to counter the growing international isolation on the eve of elections he could lose, while dozens of delegates left the hall.
When Netanyahu took to the podium, authorities abandoned the General Assembly session in protest, to which he responded, calling them “moral cowards.” His supporters in the gallery chanted in Hebrew: “The people of Israel live.”
Netanyahu used his UN speech to rebut New York City mayor Zohran Mamdani for calling him a war criminal; Western European leaders for, in his view, succumbing to “antisemitic mobs”; and to accuse both Qatar and Turkey of spreading lies about Israel.
“You tried to prevent me from coming here. You tried. You tried to silence me. Well, you cannot silence me. You cannot silence the truth,” Netanyahu said about Mamdani.
Mamdani had campaigned on a promise to order Netanyahu arrested for alleged war crimes if he visited the United States’ largest city, but later said he had concluded he lacked legal authority to do so. This week Mamdani described Netanyahu as “the architect of a horrific genocide against the Palestinians.”
In his first visit to New York since Mamdani took office in January, Netanyahu said: “Here is a simple truth: Israel did not commit genocide. Israel prevented genocide.”
He falsely accused Mamdani of supporting Hamas militants.
“To all those who spread these lies about my country and about our brave soldiers, whether they are in this hall or in the office of the antisemitic mayor of New York, I say this: Shame on you!” he said.
In a statement, Mamdani said: “As he has done countless times, Prime Minister Netanyahu used his speech to repeat unfounded lies in order to cover up his genocide against the Palestinians. Yet no lie can change the fact that he remains the subject of an International Criminal Court arrest warrant for war crimes and crimes against humanity.”
Future political stakes
Less than five weeks before the general elections, Netanyahu spoke for about 40 minutes in what was framed as a campaign speech, broadcast live during prime time by the four main Israeli television channels.
Before his speech, Netanyahu’s government paid to put up 500 pro-Israel and anti-Iran billboards, as well as dozens of trucks displaying messages of support for Israel across Manhattan, his office said in a statement.
Netanyahu, who had been slipping in opinion polls, highlighted what he called Israel’s fight on seven fronts.
Netanyahu, the longest-serving prime minister of Israel, had previously turned his UN appearances into visual spectacles, using charts, diagrams, and props to warn about Iran’s nuclear program, which Tehran says is for civilian purposes.
On Thursday, he raised a pager referencing an attack that incapacitated members of Hezbollah, the Iran-backed group in Lebanon, and showed a Starlink satellite internet receiver, which, he said, would leave the Iranian delegation without access.
“Thus, when they inevitably break through, they will also be able to tell their story freely on social media,” he said, adding that it was only a matter of time before Iranian authorities would be toppled by the people.
Protests in the streets of New York
Several hundred demonstrators gathered near the UN headquarters, with dozens blocking traffic and chanting: “Stop arming Israel, let Gaza live” and “Stop arming Israel, let Iran live.” Police detained them.
The Israeli election campaign is unfolding amid growing criticism of the country’s war against Gaza. Netanyahu is making a brief visit to the U.S. for his UN speech and, unusually, without a scheduled meeting with U.S. President Donald Trump, whom he praised during his speech.
“We will continue to defend our State. We will continue to prevail because we have no other choice. In this battle against barbarians, we have had no greater partner than President Trump. I thank him. I thank him for his bold leadership,” he said.
Growing isolation
Israel has been facing an increasingly deep diplomatic isolation since it began its war in Gaza, in response to Hamas-led attacks against Israel nearly three years ago.
Netanyahu cannot travel to many countries due to an International Criminal Court arrest warrant issued against him, his then-defense minister, and the then Hamas military commander in 2024.
Earlier this month, once-stalwart allies — the United Kingdom, France, and Canada — announced sanctions against Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank, prompting a muted reaction from Washington.
“The leaders of these countries chose to yield to antisemitic mobs. They chose weakness. They chose appeasement,” Netanyahu said.
He minimized the worsening violence in the occupied West Bank by Israeli settlers, describing it as “a handful of juvenile delinquents, about 150, who throw stones and uproot olive trees.”
“Occasionally… they set some fires. I cannot stand that. I will not tolerate vigilantism. We are a country of laws.”
