In his speech at the United Nations on Thursday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu defended his country’s genocide in Gaza and its repeated attacks on its neighbours. Delegates from dozens of countries walked out of the UN General Assembly (UNGA) hall before he spoke, highlighting Israel’s isolation from the rest of the world. But Netanyahu was appealing to a domestic audience with his speech, a month ahead of critical parliamentary elections that may force him out of office.
It was what many Israelis – angry at criticism of their country – want to hear. In Gaza, Netanyahu said Israel had conducted the “opposite of genocide” – despite the killing of more than 73,000 Palestinians, the destruction of much of Gaza, and the statements from Israeli politicians calling for mass killing in the Palestinian enclave and the removal of its inhabitants. On the West Bank, the prime minister rejected accusations from Western states that Israel’s occupation was illegitimate, pointing instead to the colonial territories historically held by the United Kingdom and France.
Moreover, despite the public show of criticism, Netanyahu claimed that many of the leaders whose delegates walked out of his speech had privately thanked Israel for “taking out Iran’s nukes”. And instead of acknowledging that Israel’s actions had organically turned global public opinion against it, he rushed to pin the blame on others. Turkiye’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who has been an outspoken critic of Israel, was a “tyrant”, Netanyahu claimed, while Qatar, which has attempted to mediate throughout Israel’s war in Gaza, was accused of funding “toxic media outlets like Al Jazeera”.
Israel attacked the Qatari capital Doha in September 2025, before being forced to apologise by US President Donald Trump. Even the mayor of his host city was not immune from attack, with Netanyahu branding New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani an antiSemite and claiming that, despite the large number of Jewish groups protesting his presence outside the UN building, Jews were being “demonised” in New York. Hamad AlMuftah, deputy chief of mission at the Qatari Embassy in Washington, responded to Netanyahu’s claims, referencing the walkout in the hall and highlighting his country’s role as a regional mediator.
Turkiye and Mamdani were also emphatic in rejecting Netanyahu’s accusations. Turkiye’s presidential Communications Director Burhanettin Duran described Netanyahu’s remarks as baseless. He argued they were unlikely to distract from either Israel’s ongoing attacks in Gaza, where it continues to kill Palestinians in defiance of a so-called “ceasefire”, or the International Criminal Court proceedings against Netanyahu.
Mamdani likewise referenced the ICC warrant issued for Netanyahu for the war crimes he is alleged to have overseen in Gaza and the “baseless lies” intended to “sanitise his genocide of Palestinians”. Those who don’t support him could see in his speech the classic Netanyahu – brilliant orator but a serial liar.” “His speech was littered with lies,” Bregman continued. Zvika Klein, editor of the influential right-wing newspaper the Jerusalem Post, praised Netanyahu’s delivery and defence of Israel.
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