Dozens of delegates walked out during Benjamin Netanyahu’s speech to the United Nations General Assembly, leaving a majority of seats empty as the Israeli prime minister began speaking.
A mix of cheers and boos broke out as Mr Netanyahu approached the rostrum, while delegates from a number of countries left the hall. General Assembly president Khalilur Rahman repeatedly called for order.
Mr Netanyahu described those who departed as “moral cowards”, adding: “In defending itself, Israel is also defending many of the countries whose delegates just left this hall.”
He claimed that leaders from some of those countries privately thanked Israel for “taking out Iran’s nukes”.
The Palestinian Mission to the UN had urged member states to bring as many staff as possible to the chamber and collectively walk out when the Israeli prime minister was announced.
It said the protest would show that countries were unwilling to “aid, abet or be complicit in its genocide and war crimes and illegal occupation”. Israel rejects allegations that it has committed genocide or war crimes and is illegally occupying Palestinian territory.
During the speech, Mr Netanyahu held up a pager while referring to the September 17 2024 incident in which Israel remotely detonated thousands of devices distributed to the Hezbollah militant group in Lebanon. The attack wounded more than 3,000 people and killed 12, including two children.
He also recalled the October 7 2023 attack by Hamas militants, in which about 1,200 people were killed. Mr Netanyahu compared the toll with “40,000 innocent Americans slaughtered in less than 24 hours” and said it was 16 times the death count of the September 11 attacks.
Mr Netanyahu thanked US President Donald Trump for taking decisive action against Iran and insisted Israel would prevail, saying: “We will continue to win because we have no other choice”.
