Prime Minister Netanyahu defends attack on Iran in UN speech, part of the audience leaves the room
“I ask you for order in the hall, please,” the President of the UN General Assembly in New York said repeatedly on Thursday.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had yet to begin his speech. After the leader of Colombia, the previous speaker, finished, a commotion arose in the hall.
As dozens of delegates left, “ Palestine ” was chanted throughout the room.
At the same time, others sang “ Am Yisrael Chai ” (the people of Israel live) and “Israel remains.” The Israeli representative to the United States, Danny Danon, signaled them to be silent with a hand.
Netanyahu opened his speech with a sneer at the departing delegations: “Should there be any other moral cowards who have not yet left this room, please do so now.”
The speech focused largely on the war with Iran, which Israel and the US started earlier this year.
The Israeli Prime Minister called the decision to attack the country’s nuclear facilities “one of the easiest decisions” of his premiership.
Without the attack, he said, “we would all be dead now.” Later in his speech, he thanked US President Donald Trump for his “courageous leadership.” Netanyahu also left a tablet-sized Starlink satellite with the Speaker of the General Assembly, intended for the Iranian delegation.
The Israeli Prime Minister repeatedly lashed out at censorship in Iran.
Attack on Mamdani In his speech, Netanyahu also lashed out at New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani, whom he accused of antisemitism.
Many Jews reportedly “no longer feel safe” in the city since Mamdani took office. He accused Mamdani, among other things, of counting convicted Hamas supporters among his friends, including, by his own account, the Turkish-American livestreamer Hassan Piker.
Piker allegedly said that America “deserved” the attacks of September 11, 2001. Netanyahu also said that Mamdani invited a Palestinian journalist to his home who allegedly filmed Hamas fighters mistreating Israeli hostages, and who, by his own account, did not publish these images to protect the perpetrators.
Additionally, Netanyahu stated that Mamdani’s wife allegedly liked online posts praising the terrorist attack of October 7, 2023, and stating that Tel Aviv should not exist. “Shame on you,” said Netanyahu to the mayor, who was not present in the room. He accused Mamdani of having tried to prevent his visit to New York. Mamdani had previously said he would support any potential arrest warrant from the International Criminal Court against Netanyahu if he visited the city.
The Eighth Front “For three years, our brave soldiers have been fighting a war on seven fronts.
But there is an eighth front in this war,” said Netanyahu, “the battle for the truth.” He singled out Qatar, home to news channel Al Jazeera, as primarily responsible for “brainwashing young minds to hate Israel, to hate Americans, to hate the West.” Netanyahu then lashed out at Turkey as “the newest superspreader of antisemitic lies,” with President Erdogan as the driving force.
The Israeli Prime Minister accused international media of paying disproportionate attention to the violence committed by settlers in the West Bank against Palestinian residents.
According to him, this is the work of “juvenile delinquents, some 150 in number,” who throw stones, chop down olive trees, and occasionally set things on fire. “I cannot stand that.
I do not tolerate a vigilante; we are a constitutional state,” said the Prime Minister, beating his chest.
Settlers are allegedly responsible for “perhaps two or three” deaths per year, while, according to him, the media actually ignores attacks on Israelis.
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