Netanyahu paints Israel's critics as 'antisemites' in angry UN speech to near-empty hall

Submitted by Sean Mathews on Thu, 09/24/2026 - 21:15 Israeli leader attacks everyone from New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani to Turkey's Erdogan and France in his address

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks at the United Nations General Assembly in New York City, on 24 September 2026 (Alexi J Rosenfeld/Getty Images/AFP)
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Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu gave a pugnacious speech at the United Nations General Assembly, attacking everyone from New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and the leaders of Western Europe, as he tried to counter Israel’s growing international isolation.

Netanyahu did not hold back from taking an aggressive stance towards critics when the General Assembly hall erupted in boos as he took to the podium, with most delegates walking out in protest.

“Order in the hall, please. Order in the hall, please,” the president of the General Assembly could be heard shouting, trying to silence the room.

“If there are any other moral cowards who haven’t left this hall, please do so now,” Netanyahu said, smiling, before he began his speech.

Israel is locked in conflict with many of its neighbours - including Lebanon and Syria - even as it continues attacking the Gaza Strip and the occupied West Bank. While Netanyahu addressed foreign policy, he spent a big chunk of his time attacking Mamdani, who he accused of succumbing to “antisemitic mobs”.

“Mr Mamdani, since you were elected mayor of this city, many Jews no longer feel safe in New York,” Netanyahu shouted. “Mr Mamdani, you tried to stop me from coming here. You tried to silence me. Well, you can't silence me. You can't silence the truth,” he said.

Meanwhile, hundreds of protesters took up positions around the UN headquarters before his arrival and continued protesting while Netanyahu spoke inside.

Netanyahu’s remarks are a reminder of how much he geared his address to an American audience and also sought to play up politics within the diaspora ahead of Israel’s October elections.

'Easiest decision I made'

The Israeli leader claimed the US-Israeli war on Iran as a victory, saying he was proud to have attacked “Iran’s murderous dictatorship” alongside the US.

“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,” he said.

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“I vowed to prevent Iran's murderous dictatorship from developing atomic bombs, nuclear weapons aimed at destroying Israel, nuclear weapons that could threaten the entire world," he said.

Netanyahu held up a Starlink satellite internet receiver during his speech, saying that he would leave it for Iran’s delegation. The US and Israel are believed to have tried to provide Iranian dissidents with Starlink to communicate during anti-government riots at the start of this year.

"So when they inevitably defect, they too will be able to freely tell their story on social media," he said.

The US-Israeli war on Iran has not toppled the Islamic Republic. Iran has moved to demonstrate its control over the Strait of Hormuz, while in Yemen, Iran’s allies, the Houthis, have taken the territory on the Arabian Gulf side of the Bab el-Mandeb Strait.

Netanyahu condemned the Hamas-led 7 October 2023 attack on southern Israel, where around 1,200 people were killed, calling it the darkest day in Israel's history. He repeated accusations about the attack that investigators and academics have long debunked, along with Israeli eyewitnesses.

Accusing Western Europe of hypocrisy

“They slaughtered Holocaust survivors, they burned babies alive in front of their parents. They beheaded our men, they brutally raped our women, and then they murdered them,” he said.

Israel conducted a ferocious onslaught on Gaza in response to 7 October that has killed close to 74,000 Palestinians and wounded nearly 175,000. The United Nations and dozens of human rights groups have called Israel’s war a genocide. The International Criminal Court (ICC) has issued an arrest warrant for Netanyahu and former Defence Minister Yoav Gallant.

Netanyahu said Israel was engaged in a “seven-front war”, with its soldiers fighting like “lions”.

“Israel is defending many of the countries whose delegates just left this hall. Many of their leaders even thank us privately for taking out Iran’s nukes,” he said.

In reality, Israel has faced growing international isolation. Netanyahu took aim at European countries that have declared trade sanctions on the Israeli-occupied West Bank.

He attacked Britain and France for their past colonial empires, accusing them of hypocrisy for criticising Israel.

"They accuse Israel, tiny Israel, of colonialism - some colonialism. And who's accusing us? Among them are people in Britain and in France. For God's sake, they invented the term," he said.

Netanyahu launched a tirade against several countries in the Middle East and said Israel faced an “eight-front” war combating media coverage critical of his country.

Lashing out at Turkey, Qatar and Syria

He lashed out at the president of Syria, Ahmed al-Sharaa, who earlier this week condemned Israel’s occupation of the Golan Heights.

“Mr al-Sharaa, you should know that Jews have been on the Golan Heights since the days of Moses,” he said.

Netanyahu also attacked Qatar and Al Jazeera. He said that Turkey was a “super-spreader of antisemitic lies” and called his counterpart, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, “a tyrant”.

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“He calls for Israel’s destruction almost every single day,” he said.

The only world leader Netanyahu singled out for praise was US President Donald Trump.

“We have no greater partner than President Trump. I thank him,” he said.

Netanyahu also dismissed the rising Israeli settler attacks against Palestinians in the occupied West Bank. Earlier this week, Jordanian King Abdullah II said Israel was undertaking de facto annexation of the territory and was guilty of war crimes there.

He said “a handful of young juvenile delinquents, about 150 in number, who throw stones, who chop down olive trees” were causing unrest in the occupied territory.

Netanyahu also appeared to try to lay the groundwork for potential military escalation in the West Bank, saying that Hamas was active in the occupied West Bank, which he referred to as Judea and Samaria.

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