Benjamin Netanyahu delivered a defiant speech at the United Nations General Assembly in New York on Thursday, as planned protests broke out in the city against the Israeli prime minister.
Netanyahu, who is gearing up for Israel’s legislative elections in October, used the platform to take aim at critics of Israel’s war in Gaza as well as media outlets and international partners.
As he made his way to the podium, dozens of delegates from around the world exited the venue as the speaker called for order.
“If there are any other moral cowards who haven’t yet left this hall, please do so now,” Netanyahu told the crowd, before turning his attention to the Iran war, which began in late February following US and Israeli strikes on the country.
He argued that Iran presented an existential threat to the world and that Israel was “defending many of the countries whose delegates just left this hall.”
“14 years ago, I stood on this podium and I drew a red line. I vowed to prevent Iran’s murderous dictatorship from developing atomic bombs,” he said. “Devastating Iran’s nuclear facilities was hard. It was very hard to do. But for me, it was one of the easiest decisions I’ve ever had to make as prime minister because if we hadn’t done it, we’d all be dead”.
Netanyahu also took the opportunity to hit out at New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani, who he dubbed the “antisemitic mayor” of the city.
“Mr. Mamdani, since you were elected mayor of this city, many Jews no longer feel safe,” he said.
Mamdani has previously urged US federal authorities to carry out the International Criminal Court’s (ICC) arrest warrant for the Israeli leader whenever he visited the US. The ICC issued a warrant for Netanyahu’s arrest in November 2024, alleging responsibility for war crimes including “starvation as a method of warfare” and “intentionally directing an attack against the civilian population.” It also accused Netanyahu of a number of crimes against humanity.
Mamdani responded to the comments by saying Netanyahu had “used his speech to repeat baseless lies meant to sanitize his genocide of Palestinians.”
“Yet no lie can change the fact that he remains the subject of an International Criminal Court arrest warrant alleging war crimes and crimes against humanity,” he added.
Elsewhere in his speech, Netanyahu rejected accusations of genocide in Gaza, saying “it’s the opposite of genocide,” while also attacking the UK and France over their mounting criticism of Israel.
“They accuse Israel, tiny Israel, of colonialism, some colonialism. And who’s accusing us? Well, among them are people in Britain and in France. For God’s sakes, they invented the term,” he said.
The address came as demonstrators gathered in New York to protest against Netanyahu.
Around 100 people were reportedly detained by police amid the protests, including film star Susan Sarandon. Video footage from the AFP news agency showed the “Thelma & Louise” actor being led away in handcuffs by officers.
An NYPD spokesperson told the agency that officers had responded to reports of an “unscheduled demonstration,” with people blocking an intersection.
“Members of the NYPD Community Affairs Bureau issued… warnings, advising participants that they should leave,” they said, adding: “They continued to block the intersection. Multiple individuals who didn’t comply were taken into custody.”
Additional sources • AFP