Prime Minister addressed the UN General Assembly’s 81st session and defended Israeli strikes on Iran as required for national survival; he said, 'We’re going to win. We have no other choice.'
Many delegations left the General Assembly Hall while Mr. Netanyahu spoke; earlier, Palestinian leader addressed the gathering by video after being denied a visa to enter the United States, according to the UN News account.
Mr. Netanyahu framed recent Israeli actions as responses to the 7 October attacks and ongoing threats; Israeli sources, cited by UN News, say the 7 October assaults killed over 1,200 Israelis and led to the abduction of 251 hostages.
The Palestinian death toll in Gaza cited in the Assembly comes from Gaza health authorities; that source reported more than 73,000 Palestinians killed and said many thousands remain missing under rubble.
Rejecting accusations of genocide in Gaza, Mr. Netanyahu said Israel had 'prevented genocide' and called such accusations 'the greatest lie of the century'; he outlined measures he said aimed to protect civilians, including evacuation warnings, phone calls, leaflets, large-scale aid deliveries and vaccinations.
Mr. Netanyahu claimed Israel 'devastating Iran’s nuclear facilities' was necessary; he said the decision was difficult but justified because 'if we hadn’t done it, we’d all be dead.'
On violence in the occupied West Bank, Mr. Netanyahu described settler attacks as the actions of 'a handful of juvenile delinquents' and said resulting casualties were 'maybe two or three a year.'
He said Israel has been fighting seven military fronts and added an 'eighth front' of disinformation; he accused international media, social platforms, several governments and named Qatar and Türkiye as participants in that campaign against Israel’s narrative, and he criticized some Western governments for applying a double standard to Israel.
World
Benjamin Netanyahu
Prime Minister of Israel
Named 7 times in this story.
Portrait: Avi Ohayon / Government Press Office (Israel) / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 3.0)
World
Mahmoud Abbas
President of the State of Palestine and of the Palestinian Authority
Named once in this story.
Portrait: Kremlin.ru / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 4.0)
Sources & methodology
This report was written from the primary materials below. Links open at the original publisher.
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