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Dozens of international diplomats and envoys staged a dramatic mass walkout as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu stepped up to address the 81st United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) in New York on Thursday.
The boycott, coordinated following a memo issued by the Palestinian delegation urging diplomatic protest, left the main assembly hall sparsely populated as the Israeli leader took the podium amid loud jeers, boos, and applause from his accompanying delegation.
Hitting back at the protesting diplomats, Netanyahu labelled those who vacated the hall “moral cowards” before proceeding with his high-stakes address.
“If there are any other moral cowards who haven’t left this hall, please do so now,” Netanyahu said.
During his speech, the Israeli Prime Minister addressed internal security concerns, downplaying extremist violence by Israeli settlers in the occupied West Bank by characterizing the perpetrators as a tiny faction of rogue youths.
“What (the media) cover is a handful of young juvenile delinquents, about 150 in number, who go or throw stones, who chop down olive trees,” Netanyahu said. “I can’t stand that. I won’t stand for vigilantism.”
Netanyahu also directed fiery rhetoric at foreign leaders, explicitly calling Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan a “tyrant” over Ankara’s ties with Hamas leadership.
“The latest country to become a super spreader of antisemitic lies (is Turkey)… Erdogan is a tyrant. He also hosts the Hamas terror chiefs,” he said.
Turning his attention locally, the Prime Minister took direct aim at New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani, accusing the city’s newly elected left-wing leader of fostering an unsafe environment for Jewish residents and making unfounded allegations against Israel.
“Since you were elected mayor of this city, many Jews no longer feel safe in New York,” he said. “You falsely, repeatedly accuse Israel of genocide.”
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