Netanyahu is left talking to himself before a nearly empty UN General Assembly and lashes out at the delegations: "They are moral cowards"

The Prime Minister of Israel, Benjamin Netanyahu, took to the podium of the General Assembly of the United Nations (UN) this Thursday while dozens of representatives abandoned their seats. Amidst boos, applause, and shouts of support for Palestine, the session president had to call for order before an intervention began, marked from the first minute by his government's growing international isolation.

Netanyahu reacted with visible anger to the diplomatic snub. “If there are any other moral cowards who have not yet left the room, please do so now,” he snapped from the lectern. The walkout left large areas of the chamber empty and an image difficult to hide for a leader who had traveled to New York with the intention of defending his military offensives and combating accusations of genocide.

The protest went beyond a mere protocolary gesture. The delegations turned their backs on the head of a government facing the conclusions of the independent UN commission of inquiry into the genocide in Gaza and an arrest warrant from the International Criminal Court (ICC). The rejection also extended to the streets of New York, where hundreds of people participated in pro-Palestinian demonstrations, and several were arrested after blocking traffic near the UN headquarters.

The Israeli prime minister tried to respond to the void by claiming the war against Iran and presenting himself as a protector of the very countries that had just left the room. He assured that destroying Iranian nuclear facilities was “one of the easiest decisions” of his career and stated that, had he not attacked, “we would all be dead.”

Netanyahu has also publicly thanked the support of the President of the United States, Donald Trump, whom he has defined as his main ally. “We are working together to save civilization,” he proclaimed after defending joint military operations against Iran. The Israeli leader avoided mentioning the human cost of a war that has expanded regional instability and has again driven up energy prices.

The Hamas attack of October 7, 2023, has again occupied a good part of his speech. Netanyahu recalled the murder of some 1,200 people and the kidnapping of 251 hostages to justify the subsequent offensive on Gaza. “We rose up and fought like lions,” he assured before presenting the devastation of the Strip as an inevitable response.

Netanyahu denies genocide documented by the UN

“Accusing Israel of genocide is the biggest lie of the century,” Netanyahu stated. His speech clashes with the conclusions of the United Nations Independent International Commission of Inquiry, which determined in 2025 that Israeli authorities had committed genocide in Gaza and has maintained this year that these crimes continue, with deliberate attacks against the Palestinian population and especially against minors.

The data collected by the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs offer a concrete dimension of that destruction. As of September 9, 73,669 Palestinians had been reported dead, 82% of Gaza's structures were damaged or destroyed, and almost two million people needed help finding shelter. More than 58,000 children had lost one or both parents.

Since November 2024, an arrest warrant from the International Criminal Court has been pending against Netanyahu for alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity. The judges found reasonable grounds to attribute responsibility to him for using starvation as a method of warfare and for attacks against the civilian population. Israel rejects the court's jurisdiction and the United States, which is also not a party to the ICC, keeps the leader protected during his visit.

The prime minister has dedicated another part of his speech to attacking the mayor of New York, Zohran Mamdani, after the latter defined him as a “war criminal” and demanded that the federal government act on the arrest warrant. Netanyahu has accused him without proof of supporting Hamas and fueling antisemitism. Mamdani has repeatedly condemned hatred against the Jewish community and maintains that the Israeli government uses this accusation to discredit criticism of its actions in Palestine.

Netanyahu has also reduced the violence of Israeli settlers in the West Bank to the actions of a small group of young “delinquents”. His version contrasts with United Nations warnings about the increase in attacks, demolitions, land confiscation, and the expansion of settlements, a process that the UN Secretary-General this week linked to the danger of ethnic cleansing.

The scene occurred a few hours after the president of the State of Palestine, Mahmoud Abbas, had to intervene via a recorded video because the Trump Administration had denied him a visa. Netanyahu was able to physically occupy the podium, although dozens of delegations decided to leave before listening to him.