Dozens Of UN Delegates Walk Out In Protest Ahead Of Benjamin Netanyahu's Evocative Speech

Dozens of UN delegates walked out of the general assembly hall in silence the moment Benjamin Netanyahu started speaking on Friday.

Cheers and applause rang out at the same time – although it’s not clear if that was for the Israeli prime minister or for the protest – while the UN president Philémon Yang called for “order, order, please”.

This is the first UN General Assembly since the war in Gaza began on October 7.

So this year, world leaders like UK PM Keir Starmer have used their UN speeches to plead for Israel and its foes – Hezbollah and Hamas – to “step back from the brink” and “stop the violence”.

Despite the wave of walk-outs, the Israeli PM began his speech by saying: “I didn’t intend to come here this year. My country is at war, fighting for its life. 

“But after I heard the lies and slander levelled at my country by many of the speakers at this podium, I decided to come here and set the record straight.”

There was a cheer from the remaining delegates at that.

He claimed: “Here’s the truth: Israel seeks peace. Israel yearns for peace. Israel has made peace and will make peace again.”

Israel’s war against the Palestinian militants Hamas began when the Iran-backed group killed 1,200 people on Israeli soil and took around 250 others hostage.

Israel declared war in retaliation, before bombing and invading Gaza, supposedly in an effort to wipe out the militants.

Almost a year later, local authorities say 40,000 Palestinians have been killed.

Israeli tensions with other Iranian-backed militant groups, like Lebanon-based Hezbollah, have also skyrocketed in the last 11 months, resulting in further conflicts and risking all-out war in the region.

Netanyahu claimed Israel is now fighting on six fronts; Hezbollah attacks from Lebanon, Houthis from Yemen, Iran’s Shiite militias from Syria and Iraq, Hamas in the West Bank, and Iran.

But, the Israeli PM still claimed his country “is winning”, at the UN, and warned there is no place in Iran the “long arm” of Israel cannot reach.

He also held up two maps of the Middle East – where Gaza and the West Bank were not separated from Israel – and claimed relations had normalised with Egypt, Sudan and Saudi Arabia into a “blessing” but described Iran, Iraq, Syria and Lebanon as part of a “curse”.

The Israeli PM added that it was “inconceivable” to allow Hamas to remain a part of Gaza when the war ends, claiming Israel has killed or captured “more than half” of Hamas members since the war began.

He went on to accuse the UN and the prosecutor of the International Criminal Court, who is trying to issue an arrest warrant for him, of “pure antisemitism”.

Starmer reportedly tried to arrange a meeting with Netanyahu at the UN this week, but their diaries did not align.

A planned meeting between the prime minister and Israel’s strategic affairs minister Ron Dermer, was also cancelled because Dermer delayed his travel to New York by a day.

This all comes after the UK joined calls for Israel and Hezbollah to agree to an immediate ceasefire earlier this week.

Netanyahu also condemned the UK for suspending 30 of approximately 350 arms licences to Israel at the start of September, saying it was a “shameful” move which would “embolden Hamas”.