Prime Minister Netanyahu addressed the UN General Assembly Thursday evening, calling for 'moral cowards' to leave the hall. Dozens of delegates walked out as he criticized Turkey's Erdogan as a dictator, thanked President Trump, defended the strike on Iran's nuclear facilities, and accused Qatar of funding anti-Israel brainwashing. Netanyahu also brandished a beeper, saying Hezbollah remembers it, and cited the October 7 Hamas massacre as a turning point.
Prime Minister Netanyahu's UN General Assembly address turned increasingly combative Thursday evening as he launched a personal attack on Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, calling him a 'dictator,' thanked President Donald Trump as 'no better ally,' and defended the strike on Iran's nuclear facilities. These remarks came after The Zioneer had reported the initial walkout of dozens of delegates at 20:50 Jerusalem, followed by Netanyahu challenging them as 'moral cowards' moments later. The current portion of the speech — reported at 21:34 Jerusalem — added a direct confrontation with Ankara and a robust defense of Israel's preemptive action against Iran's nuclear program.
The desk's coverage of the address has tracked each phase. At 20:50, The Zioneer reported delegates walking out as Netanyahu began speaking, with the UAE envoy remaining seated. At 21:19, Amichai Stein (i24NEWS) reported Netanyahu brandishing a beeper from the September 2024 mass-detonation operation, declaring 'Hezbollah remembers this.' At 21:25, the Prime Minister quoted Neriah Lighter, son of Israel's US Ambassador, seriously wounded in a terror attack near Maccabim: 'We have no other country. It's a privilege to defend her.' At 21:30, he accused Qatar of spending 'massive sums' to 'brainwash young people' with hatred of Israel. Each claim has been attributed to on-site reporting by Israeli news outlets and The Zioneer's own correspondents.
The address draws on a broader strategic narrative. As The Zioneer reported from the pager-anniversary speech on September 17 (21:03), Netanyahu claimed Israel destroyed 93% of Hezbollah's pre-war rockets. In a Channel 14 appearance on June 30, he told the nation 'we've achieved tremendous gains, but it's not over — be strong.' The UN speech tonight weaves these themes into a message aimed at both international critics and the Israeli home front, mixing defiance with appeals to US support.
The full diplomatic fallout from Netanyahu's confrontational tone — including the walkout by Arab and Muslim-majority delegations and his public break with Erdogan — remains to be seen. The Zioneer understands the walkout was not pre-planned. Some European delegates described the atmosphere as 'icy,' though no official condemnations have been issued as of publication.
5 developments
- StrongNetanyahu at UN calls out walkout protesters: 'Where were you when Iran killed its own civilians?'
- DevelopingIsraeli delegation walks out of UN assembly during Erdogan speech
- StrongNetanyahu's UN speech draws warnings and criticism from Israeli political figures
- StrongNetanyahu at UN: European leaders surrendered to antisemitic mobs, Iran fears Starlink
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