Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu delivered a fiery UN speech Thursday assailing enemies and allies alike – and sparking uproar in the chamber.
Netanyahu faces a difficult reelection campaign at home and is locked in a tight race to stay in power in 27 October elections. In his UNGA speech, Netanyahu attacked everyone from the leaders of Iran to New York’s first Muslim mayor and partners Britain, France and Turkey.
Dozens of envoys from across the world walked out, some jeering and booing, while Netanyahu’s own team stood and applauded, and the speaker of the session shouted for order. The walkout was lead by the Palestinian Mission to the UN.
“If there are any other moral cowards who haven’t left this hall, please do so now,” Netanyahu told those turning their backs on him during his speech.
Groups of delegates were seen leaving the room in support of Palestine as Israeli prime minister spoke. Other delegates clapped and chanted ‘Am Yisrael Chai’ or ‘the people of Israel live’ in support of the prime minister
There is no official list of countries whose delegates walked out during Netanyahu’s speech on Thursday. Multiple news outlets said that representatives from dozens of countries walked out.
One X handle ‘Iran Military Media’ which calls itself ‘independent media’ shared a list of over 75 flags of nations that walked out. LiveMint couldn’t verify the list, however.
Videos shared my multiple sources showed Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Tunisia, Uzbekistan, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Algeria, Iran, Malaysia, Montenegro and Kyrgyzstan were among the nations whose seats were empty during Netanyahu’s speech. Jordan, Libya, the Marshall Islands, and Mauritius also had empty seats.
Delegates from Turkey, Iran, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Indonesia, Malaysia, Brunei Darussalam, Maldives, Myanmar, North Korea, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, and Kyrgyzstan also walked out, as per reports
Netanyahu lashed out at New York’s popular, leftist Mayor Zohran Mamdani as “antisemitic” and claimed that “since you were elected mayor of this city, many Jews no longer feel safe.”
Mamdani had threatened to execute an ICC arrest warrant against Netanyahu, before conceding he did not have the authority.
The Hague-based International Criminal Court (ICC) said in 2024 it had reasonable grounds to believe Netanyahu was responsible for war crimes in the Gaza campaign, which responded to Hamas’s deadly 7 October, 2023 attacks. Netanyahu denies the ICC claims.
“Netanyahu used his speech to repeat baseless lies meant to sanitize his genocide of Palestinians,” Mamdani said in response.
“Yet no lie can change the that he remains the subject of an International Criminal Court arrest warrant alleging war crimes and crimes against humanity.”
Dozens of protesters, some brandishing “stop the genocide” banners, gathered near the United Nations. At least 100 demonstrators were detained, including Hollywood actor Susan Sarandon.
Palestinian President , was unable to attend the UN gathering after the Trump administration refused him a visa.
In a video message played ahead of Netanyahu’s speech, Abbas said, “We reject these unlawful punitive measures, and we reject the accusations and justifications on which they were based.”
(With inputs from agencies)
