Prime Minister Netanyahu, in his UN General Assembly address Thursday evening, dismissed accusations of settler violence as uninformed, saying 'You don't know what you're talking about.' He also attacked Britain and France, accusing them of 'trying to conquer the world' while labeling Israel as colonialist. Left-wing figures in Israel responded critically to the speech.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu escalated his address to the UN General Assembly on Thursday evening, launching a direct attack on Britain and France and accusing them of hypocrisy while dismissing international criticism of Jewish residents of Judea and Samaria. "You don't know what you're talking about," he told those criticizing what he described as a campaign against "settler violence." The remarks marked the latest segment of his speech, which began earlier at around 21:00 Jerusalem time.
The Zioneer had earlier reported that Netanyahu characterized incidents involving Israeli residents of Judea and Samaria as the work of "a handful of juvenile delinquents" (21:21 Jerusalem). Minutes later, he accused European leaders of surrendering to "antisemitic mobs" (21:42 Jerusalem). The latest update adds sharp criticism of Britain and France specifically. The speech drew immediate reactions from Israeli political figures, with right-wing commentator Erel Segal warning of the stakes and opposition leader Yair Golan criticizing the address (published at 22:17 Jerusalem).
The address is part of a series of public appearances this week. On Thursday afternoon, Netanyahu spoke at an IDF officers' graduation ceremony, where he declared that "only a blind man says there are no achievements" and vowed to remain in buffer zones in southern Lebanon. In his UN appearances, he has outlined Israel's security doctrine on multiple fronts, including confronting Iran and its proxies. As The Zioneer reported earlier (Thu 21:03 Jerusalem), the Prime Minister is on a brief diplomatic mission to New York, with anti-Israel protests taking place outside the UN headquarters.
The domestic political fallout remained ongoing, with left-wing figures responding critically to the Prime Minister's international tone. No further details on the specific accusations against Britain and France have been verified independently beyond the Prime Minister's own remarks.
2 developments
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