Published : 25 Sep 2026, 10:52 AM
Updated : 25 Sep 2026, 10:52 AM
Dozens of delegates streamed out of the United Nations General Assembly Hall as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu began speaking on Thursday.
Netanyahu waved towards those leaving and called them “moral cowards”, while supporters in the gallery chanted in Hebrew.
It was a striking opening to a speech delivered under two very different pressures: mounting criticism of Israel abroad over the Gaza war and a general election at home on Oct 27.
Reuters described the 40-minute address as campaign-style, noting that it was broadcast live in evening prime time on all four of Israel’s main television channels.
Netanyahu used the UN stage to defend Israel’s military actions in Gaza and across the region, reject accusations of genocide and attack some of his government’s most prominent critics.
New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani was singled out after previously describing Netanyahu as a war criminal and saying during his mayoral campaign that he would seek his arrest if legally possible.
Netanyahu accused Mamdani of siding with Israel’s enemies and challenged attempts to silence him. He also criticised Western European leaders and accused Qatar and Turkey of spreading falsehoods about Israel. Qatar rejected his claims.
The walkout offered a stark picture of the hostility Netanyahu encountered inside the UN.
Outside, several hundred protesters gathered near the headquarters, with some blocking traffic and chanting against US arms support for Israel. Police made arrests, including actors Susan Sarandon and Hannah Einbinder at a separate demonstration.
Much of the speech, however, was also pitched towards voters back home.
Netanyahu portrayed Israel as fighting on seven fronts and again cast himself as the leader willing to withstand international criticism rather than change course.
His government had also paid for 500 pro-Israel and anti-Iran billboards and dozens of trucks carrying supportive messages across Manhattan, Netanyahu’s office said.
Opinion polls cited by Reuters show his bloc trailing rivals ahead of the election, although the outcome remains uncertain. His longstanding security credentials were badly damaged by the Hamas-led Oct 7, 2023 attacks, but subsequent wars across the region have again put national security at the centre of Israeli politics.
Netanyahu also brought out props familiar from previous UN appearances.
He displayed a pager linked to the 2024 attacks on Hezbollah members in Lebanon and held up a Starlink receiver that he said he would leave for Iran’s delegation, using both to underline his wider argument about Israel confronting enemies across the region.
His wider New York visit was unusually brief.
Two Israeli officials told Reuters Netanyahu was expected to spend less than eight hours in the city before returning home. Unlike his week-long visit last year, his publicly announced schedule included no meeting with US President Donald Trump or other senior US officials.
Netanyahu’s office attributed the compressed schedule partly to the need to return before the Jewish holiday of Sukkot and said he would meet nine world leaders during the trip.
But former Israeli ambassador to Washington Michael Oren told Reuters he could not recall another occasion when an Israeli prime minister had visited the US without meeting the president, calling the absence politically damaging ahead of the election.
Netanyahu nevertheless praised Trump repeatedly from the UN podium.
The speech therefore played to two very different audiences.
The delegates heading for the exits supplied one image of Netanyahu’s standing abroad. His response supplied another of the message he wanted Israeli voters to see.
