Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was addressing the UN General Assembly when dozens of delegates walked out of the hall. The walkout occurred as Netanyahu took the podium: simultaneous cheers and protests erupted, and many delegates began leaving their seats en masse.
Netanyahu called those who left "moral cowards" and said, "If there are other moral cowards in the hall who haven't left yet, please leave right now." He dismissed accusations of genocide against Israel in the Gaza Strip as "the biggest lie of the century." He also added that joining the US war against Iran was "one of the easiest decisions" he had ever made.
Netanyahu vowed to continue the fight: "We will win. We have no other choice." In his speech, he fiercely defended Israel's military campaigns in Iran, Gaza, and other parts of the Middle East. "They accuse Israel, little Israel, of colonialism — how can it be colonialism? Who is accusing us? Among them are representatives of Britain and France. God bless you, after all, you invented this term!" he said.
He then accused Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan of supporting the Palestinian group Hamas and called him a "tyrant." Erdogan had earlier told the UN that the injustices faced by the people of Gaza and the West Bank "deeply shake humanity's conscience." Netanyahu also thanked US President Donald Trump for his "strong leadership" and added, "Israel and America acted together not only to defend themselves but also to save civilization."
According to the Associated Press, Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas also spoke at the UN the same day, but he did so via video link — the US denied him a visa to attend the General Assembly in person for the second consecutive year. In his video address, Abbas told the UN that Israel's policies, particularly the illegal expansion of Jewish settlements in the occupied West Bank, threaten "the lives and existence of Palestinians on their native land." He also said this jeopardizes the internationally supported "two-state" solution as a peace formula between Israel and Palestine. According to Abbas, Palestinians in Gaza are subjected to "massacre, destruction, starvation, and forced displacement attempts, as well as a genocidal war" by Israeli forces.
New York City's left-wing mayor, Zohran Mamdani, also came under criticism from the Israeli leader. "Since you were elected mayor of this city, many Jews in New York no longer feel safe," Netanyahu said. In response, Mamdani's office stated that Netanyahu "used his speech to repeat baseless lies aimed at justifying genocide against Palestinians."
Source: www.gazeta.uz