Netanyahu claims Zohran Mamdani is antisemitic while defending Israel’s efforts to spare Palestinian lives
We’ve taken innumerable steps to protect the civilian population,” Netanyahu claims. “Is this genocide? Of course not. It’s the opposite of genocide.
“To all those spreading lies about my country and its brave soldiers, whether they sit in this hall, or in the antisemitic office of the mayor of New York, I say this: Shame on you. Shame on you for distorting the facts. Shame on you for inverting victim and aggressor. Shame on you for spitting in the face of truth.”
He adds: “Mr Mamdani, since you were elected mayor of this city, many Jews no longer feel safe in New York.”
Earlier this month, The Guardian reported that Israeli attacks in Gaza since 2023 have killed more than 73,000 Palestinians, the majority of them civilians, and injured more than 174,000 others, together representing more than 10% of Gaza’s prewar population.
What happened at the UN general assembly on Thursday
Here is a recap of the speeches and reaction to them at the UN general assembly so far today:
Benjamin Netanyahu’s speech was delayed by protests and a mass walkout.
He claimed New York’s mayor Zohran Mamdani is antisemitic. “Shame on you for spitting in the face of truth,” he said at comments directed at the mayor, who had branded him a “war criminal”.
He said the US and Israel have been working together to “save civilisation”, and hailed the IDF as “the most moral army in the world”.
Netanyahu’s appearance sparked protests outside the UN’s headquarters with some arrests, including of Hollywood actor Susan Sarandon.
The president of the European Council of the European Union, António Costa said the UN is under pressure from “geopolitical polarisation, financial constraints and institutional shortcomings”, and calls for reform and re-investment.
President of Hungary András Baka used his address to warn about Russian aggression. “If taking territory by force becomes an accepted way of settling disputes, every smaller country will have reasons to worry about its own future.”
Zelenskyy tells Russian journalist he will visit Moscow ‘on a rocket’
Mahmoud Abbas, the longtime president of the Palestinian Authority, said the Palestinian delegation was unlawfully denied entry visas.
Abbas accused Israel of seeking to “expand its colonial project towards establishing the so-called Greater Israel and completely erasing Palestinian presence”.
He also expressed particular gratitude to the UK for the measures it had taken “in order to protect the two-state solution” and ban settlement products.
Hollywood stars arrested in New York at anti-Netanyahu protest
Film star Susan Sarandon and Hacks actor Hannah Einbinder were among a number of people reportedly detained by police in New York after a protest held outside the UN headquarters in Manhattan during Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s address.
Footage appeared to show NYPD officers cuffing Sarandon, who starred in Thelma & Louise, at the demonstration before Netanyahu’s speech.
The New York Post said the demonstration was organised by Jewish Voice for Peace.
Netanyahu sums up the values which helped allow Jews to “beat the odds of history”.
He quotes Mark Twain’s essay Concerning The Jews, written in 1899, which Netanyahu notes is well before the existence of the modern state of Israel.
Here is the quote in full:
Netanyahu continues: “The tyrannies which have tried to destroy us have failed time and again, and God willing, they’ll continue to fail. If we muster our courage, if we steel our resolve, we will continue to win. As the Bible says, ‘the eternity of Israel will not falter’. The reason is simple. We have no other choice.”
Netanyahu calls demonstrators outside the UN building in New York “phony human rights protesters”.
Netanyahu turns his attention to European nations he says are not supporting Israel. “We cannot evade the truth before us. Many in the free world refuse to defend freedom.”
“What will the world hold for you?” he asks. “The brotherhood of democracies, or the Muslim brotherhood? How long will it take for you to see that these fanatic jihadists are choking your waterways, your energy supply, your economic lifeline.”
Netanyahu claims Zohran Mamdani is antisemitic while defending Israel’s efforts to spare Palestinian lives
We’ve taken innumerable steps to protect the civilian population,” Netanyahu claims. “Is this genocide? Of course not. It’s the opposite of genocide.
“To all those spreading lies about my country and its brave soldiers, whether they sit in this hall, or in the antisemitic office of the mayor of New York, I say this: Shame on you. Shame on you for distorting the facts. Shame on you for inverting victim and aggressor. Shame on you for spitting in the face of truth.”
He adds: “Mr Mamdani, since you were elected mayor of this city, many Jews no longer feel safe in New York.”
Earlier this month, The Guardian reported that Israeli attacks in Gaza since 2023 have killed more than 73,000 Palestinians, the majority of them civilians, and injured more than 174,000 others, together representing more than 10% of Gaza’s prewar population.
Netanyahu hails the IDF as “the most moral army in the world”.
“For three years, our brave soldiers have been valiantly fighting a seven-front war. But there’s an eighth front to this war. It’s the war for truth. It is waged in the world’s media, and most perniciously, in social media. Several foreign countries have spent untold billions to spread lies about my country.”
He salutes the Israeli people for their “unrelenting resolve”.
“This is Israel. One nation fighting for one future,” he adds.
Netanyahu thanks Donald Trump for his support.
“We have no greater partner than President Trump,” Netanyahu says, saying that the US and Israel have been working together to “save civilisation”.
Netanyahu lashes out at the international media for what he says is distorted coverage of settler violence, which he puts down to a small number of teenage “delinquents”.
He says he has no time for vigilantism. “I won’t stand for it. We’re a country of law,” he says, and goes on to describe “peaceful settlers – honest people – law-abiding people”.
He says Israel’s response to the 7 October attack was that “we rose and fought like lions”, winning applause in the auditorium.
