Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu delivered a combative speech to the United Nations General Assembly in New York City on Thursday afternoon, criticizing delegates who walked out during his remarks and turning sharp words on Iran, Qatar, Turkey, and New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani.
As numerous delegates left the hall before and during his address, Netanyahu told those remaining, “If there are any other moral cowards that haven’t yet left this hall, please do so now, thank you very much.” He also directed criticism at protesters outside the UN building, accusing them of applying a double standard by not raising similar concern for Iranians killed or injured by their own government or for persecuted Christians. “Where were you?” he asked. “Did you organize mass rallies, hunger strikes? Did you protest outside the Iranian mission to the U.N.? Did you speak out?”
Netanyahu defended Israel’s strikes on Iran’s nuclear infrastructure, saying the decision protected not just Israel but much of the free world. “Devastating Iran’s nuclear facilities was hard,” he said, “but for me it was one of the easiest decisions I’ve had to make as prime minister. If I hadn’t done it, we’d be dead.” He claimed some governments that have publicly condemned Israel privately thanked him for the strikes, calling it “mind-blowing hypocrisy.”
He also accused Qatar of spending billions on anti-Israel messaging through universities and outlets including Al Jazeera, and criticized Turkey for hosting Hamas. Netanyahu called Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan a “tyrant” and responded to Erdoğan’s stated ambitions regarding Jerusalem by saying, “He says he will be the ruler of Jerusalem. No sir, you won’t. It is our city.”
At one point, Netanyahu pulled a pager from his pocket, referencing earlier operations against Hezbollah, and said, “You remember the beepers? Hezbollah certainly remembers them.”
Direct message to Mamdani
Netanyahu also addressed Mamdani directly from the podium, located in the city Mamdani leads. Mamdani has previously accused Netanyahu of committing war crimes and genocide in Gaza and had said he would seek to arrest Netanyahu under an International Criminal Court warrant if the Israeli leader entered New York City, though the mayor later acknowledged he lacked the authority to carry that out.
Netanyahu accused Mamdani of fostering an environment where Jews no longer feel safe in New York and of spreading falsehoods about Israel and its military. “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,” he said, later adding, “You can’t silence me. You can’t silence the truth.”
Netanyahu also said, “The days when Jews were defenseless victims marched to the slaughter, those days are over. Today we have a state. Today we have an army.”
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