Israel's Netanyahu tells U.N. "we will continue to defend our state"

Tel Aviv — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu addressed the United Nations General Assembly on Thursday as his country faces broad condemnation and growing isolation over Israel's actions in the Gaza Strip and the occupied West Bank.

As Netanyahu took the stage, many attendees walked out. 

"If there are any other moral cowards who haven't yet left this hall, please do so now," Netanyahu began. 

Netanyahu arrived in New York early Thursday morning and is due to leave just a few hours after his speech.

Leaders from Europe and the Middle East, including France, the U.K., Jordan, Syria, Qatar and Turkey, devoted at least some of their time at the U.N. podium Wednesday to harshly denounce Israel.

Delegates from some countries leave the room as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu arrives to speak during the 81st session of the United Nations General Assembly on Sept. 24, 2026 in New York City.  Alexi J. Rosenfeld / Getty Images

Analysts expected Netanyahu would take advantage of the critical focus on Israel to demonstrate his ability to defend his country on the international stage just weeks before a tightly contested Israeli election.   

It's an unusually brief trip to New York for Netanyahu during the General Assembly. He has often capitalized on the autumn visits to meet with other world leaders, particularly the American president and secretary of state.

Referring to the Oct. 7, 2023, terrorist attack carried out by Hamas, Netanyahu said that instead of collapsing, "we rose and fought like lions." 

"With our great American friends, we crushed Iran's army, navy, air force and nuclear facilities," he said, later thanking President Trump for his "bold leadership." 

"We will continue to defend our state. We will continue to win because we have no other choice," he said. 

His office said he would meet Thursday with the presidents of Argentina, Bolivia, Paraguay, Panama and Ethiopia, the vice president of Colombia, and the prime ministers of Greece, Slovenia, and Papua New Guinea. He is not due to meet with President Trump. 

Netanyahu's office said this year's trip would be so brief because the prime minister needs to return to Israel for the Jewish holiday of Sukkot, which begins Friday evening.

In his speech, Netanyahu was expected to focus primarily on Iran, according to a person familiar with the matter. He will also likely defend Israel's ongoing military campaigns in Gaza and in neighboring countries such as Syria.

Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks at the U.N. on Sept. 24, 2026. ANGELA WEISS /AFP via Getty Images

Netanyahu has used past General Assembly addresses to make claims about Iran's military and nuclear efforts, and he has promised surprises in his upcoming speeches.

Netanyahu's beef with Mamdani

Netanyahu also vowed to respond in his U.N. address to the latest criticism from New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani.

In a video responding to Mamdani calling him a "war criminal" earlier this week, Netanyahu said he would use his speech at the U.N. to "tell the truth about" the mayor, whom he accused of supporting Hamas.

Netanyahu's response came nearly 30 minutes into his address, where he accused Mamdani of spreading "lies" about Jews and called him "antisemitic." 

"Shame on you," Netanyahu said. "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." 

"You falsely, repeatedly accuse Israel of genocide," he continued. "You try to stop me from coming here. You try to silence me. Well, you can't silence me. You can't silence the truth. Here's a simple truth: Israel didn't commit genocide. Israel prevented genocide." 

During his election campaign, Mamdani had threatened to have New York authorities act on an arrest warrant issued by the International Criminal Court for Netanyahu, should he attend the U.N. gathering.

The mayor later recognized that he couldn't have Netanyahu detained, but he urged federal U.S. authorities to detain him instead and noted that New Yorkers would still have an outlet to express their feelings about the Israeli leader, calling the act of protest "one of the bedrocks of our city."

That reference to protests against Netanyahu, which were widely expected to take place Thursday, drew a sharp rebuke from the prime minister in his video this week.

"Shame on you for inciting riots against New York Jews. I'm coming to the U.N. I'm going to tell the truth about our heroic soldiers, and I'm going to tell the truth about you," Netanyahu said.

Condemnation of Israel, and Israeli pushback

Netanyahu spoke after a spate of speeches condemning his government's policies.

British Prime Minister Andy Burnham told the leaders gathered at the U.N. on Wednesday that while Hamas' Oct. 7, 2023, terror attack on Israel was "utterly horrific," the scale of the Israeli response has been unjustified.

"Far too many people have died — including so many children. Far too little aid is getting in, and it has gone on for far too long," Burnham said of Gaza, where Israeli forces have occupied more than half of the Palestinian territory since the war with Hamas.

The speech by France's President Emmanuel Macron sparked ire in Israel after he accused the country of daily violations in the other Palestinian territory, the Israeli-occupied West Bank. 

"Look at what is happening in West Bank, where there are violations every day. In the name of what? Hamas has never struck in the West Bank," said the French leader. "This every day makes it more impossible to achieve respect for the Palestinian people's legitimate right to exist."

Netanyahu called Macron's statement about Hamas a "grotesque absurdity," noting that on Sunday, French citizen and father of six Netanel Shukrun was killed in an attack that Netanyahu said was carried out by a Hamas terrorist.

Hamas issued a statement praising the attack, but it did not claim responsibility. 

The group, long designated a terrorist organization by the U.S., Israel and the European Union, has not been part of the Palestinian administration in the West Bank since 2007. It has, however, maintained its own militant network in the West Bank for decades, according to Israeli and Palestinian officials. 

"Hamas terrorists carry out attacks against Jews almost every day. They have murdered countless Israeli civilians in Judea and Samaria," Netanyahu added Wednesday, using the official Israeli name for the West Bank.

King Abdullah of Jordan, which signed a peace agreement decades ago with Israel, told the U.N. on Wednesday that Israel should be hit with sanctions, asset freezes, embargoes and diplomatic isolation.

Netanyahu will use the criticism of Israel at the U.N. as an opportunity to demonstrate his ability to defend his country on the global stage ahead of the Israeli elections in October, said David Makovsky, a fellow at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy.

"He's going to use the U.N. as a prop for this election," said Makovsky. "He plays on what the Israeli public sees as the selective moral outrage of the leaders at the U.N."