Netanyahu Defends Military Action as UN Delegates Walk Out — SkimNews
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- Netanyahu defended Israel's military campaigns in Gaza, Iran and elsewhere at the UN General Assembly and told remaining delegates "If there are any other moral cowards who haven't left the hall, please do so now" after dozens walked out in protest.
- Netanyahu rejected accusations that Israel is committing genocide in Gaza, where the territory's Hamas-run health ministry reports more than 73,920 people killed during the Israeli campaign launched after the October 7, 2023 Hamas attack that killed about 1,200 people and took 251 hostages.
- Mahmoud Abbas told the UN via video link after being denied a US entry visa that Israeli settlement expansion in the occupied West Bank threatened "the very life and existence of the Palestinian people" and jeopardized the two-state solution.
- Netanyahu called Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan a "tyrant" for supporting Hamas and told New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani that "many Jews no longer feel safe in New York" since his election; Mamdani's office called Netanyahu's claims "baseless lies meant to sanitize his genocide of Palestinians."
- Netanyahu thanked President Donald Trump for US-Israeli joint air strikes on Tehran in February, saying "Israel and America acted together not only to protect ourselves, but to save civilisation."
- The International Association of Genocide Scholars passed a resolution stating Israel's conduct meets the legal definition of genocide under the UN convention; Netanyahu is also subject to an International Criminal Court arrest warrant for alleged war crimes.
- Susan Sarandon and Hannah Einbinder were among protesters detained in New York City during demonstrations against Netanyahu's visit.
Why it matters: Netanyahu delivered his defiant speech while subject to an ICC warrant for alleged war crimes and after the IAGS formally concluded Israel's conduct meets the legal definition of genocide — yet he rejected both, underscoring Israel's deepening diplomatic isolation at the UN as Gaza deaths surpass 73,920.
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