With the Gaza war nearing its third year and regional tensions still elevated, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu uses the U.N. General Assembly podium to frame Israel’s military actions as a fight for national survival. His remarks also reject genocide allegations over Gaza and dismiss reported settler violence in the West Bank as isolated acts by a few youths.
Highlights
- Prime Minister Netanyahu tells the U.N. General Assembly that striking Iran’s nuclear facilities was essential to prevent existential risk to Israel.
- Netanyahu asserts Israel fights on seven fronts—including Hamas, Hezbollah, Iran, and others—while rejecting genocide allegations and claiming civilian protection measures in Gaza.
- Israeli military operations in Gaza since 7 October have killed over 73,000 Palestinians, per Gaza health authorities, compared to more than 1,200 Israeli deaths in Hamas attacks.
U.N. speech sets out Israel’s wartime case
As reported by U.N. News, Netanyahu tells the General Assembly that striking Iran’s nuclear facilities is one of the easiest decisions of his premiership because, in his view, failing to act would have put Israel at existential risk. He says Israel is fighting on seven fronts, naming Hamas, Hezbollah, the Houthis, Iran, militias in Iraq, militias in Syria, and Palestinian militants in the West Bank.
Many delegations leave the hall as he takes the podium, hours after Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas addresses the gathering by video after being denied a visa to enter the U.S. Netanyahu also describes an “eighth front” involving what he calls anti-Israel and antisemitic narratives spread by parts of the international media, social media and several governments, specifically naming Qatar and Türkiye.
In his address, Netanyahu says accusations that Israel commits genocide in Gaza are false and argues that the government’s objective is to defeat Hamas while protecting civilians. He points to evacuation warnings, phone calls, leaflets, humanitarian aid deliveries and polio vaccinations as evidence for that claim.
Conflict toll and diplomatic fallout remain in focus
Netanyahu’s speech comes against the backdrop of the 7 October attacks nearly three years ago by Hamas and other Palestinian armed groups, which Israeli sources say killed more than 1,200 people in Israel and led to 251 abductions. Israeli military operations launched afterward in Gaza have killed more than 73,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza health authorities, with many thousands more reported missing under rubble.
He also rejects accounts of settler violence in the West Bank, describing those involved as a handful of “juvenile delinquents” and saying resulting casualties amount to only a few each year. Netanyahu further criticizes Western governments that challenge Israeli policy, argues that Israel faces a double standard, and targets New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani by claiming Jews no longer feel safe in the city under his tenure.
In our earlier article on Netanyahu’s UN General Assembly address, we covered how he used the podium to justify Israel’s military campaign against Iran and stress the importance of continued U.S. backing. We also noted the intensified diplomatic pressure around the Gaza war, including protests outside the UN and Netanyahu’s claims that hostile narratives and antisemitic propaganda from countries such as Qatar and Türkiye are fueling international criticism.
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