Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has branded scores of United Nations delegates "moral cowards" after they staged a dramatic walkout from the General Assembly hall the moment he stepped up to address the body, leaving a majority of seats visibly empty behind him.
When Netanyahu approached the rostrum, the chamber erupted in a mix of cheers and boos before large numbers of delegates filed out en masse. General Assembly president Khalilur Rahman was forced to repeatedly call for order as the commotion unfolded.
Netanyahu fires back at departing delegates
Rather than ignore the walkout, Netanyahu addressed it head-on from the podium, challenging those who remained and those who had left.
"If there are any other moral cowards who have not yet left the hall, please do so now," he said defiantly.
He also argued that Israel's military campaign serves a broader purpose beyond its own borders. "In defending itself, Israel is also defending many of the countries whose delegates just left this hall," Netanyahu told the assembly. He went further, claiming that many world leaders privately express gratitude to Israel, adding: "Many of their leaders even thank us privately for taking out Iran's nukes."
Palestinian Mission coordinated the walkout
The mass departure was not spontaneous. The Palestinian Mission to the United Nations had circulated a message to member countries ahead of the speech, urging delegations to bring as many staff as possible to the hall and walk out collectively the moment Netanyahu was introduced.
The message framed the protest as a rebuke of Israeli government policy, stating that it would "send a clear message to Netanyahu and his government that no one is willing to aid, abet or be complicit in its genocide and war crimes and illegal occupation."
Israel firmly rejects allegations that it has committed genocide or war crimes, and disputes claims that its presence in Palestinian territory constitutes an illegal occupation.
Netanyahu invokes October 7 and the pager attacks
During his address, Netanyahu drew on two events to make his case to the international community. He held up a pager as a reminder of the September 17, 2024 operation in which Israel remotely detonated thousands of devices that had been distributed to the Hezbollah militant group in Lebanon. That attack killed 12 people, including two children, and wounded more than 3,000 others.
He also returned to the October 7, 2023 Hamas attacks on Israel, in which approximately 1,200 people were killed. To contextualise the scale of the assault for an international audience, Netanyahu offered a stark comparison: "This is equal to 40,000 innocent Americans slaughtered in less than 24 hours" — or roughly 16 times the death toll of the September 11 attacks in New York, which claimed nearly 3,000 lives.
Trump thanked, vow to 'continue to win'
Netanyahu used part of his address to thank US President Donald Trump for what he described as decisive action against Iran. He closed his remarks with a defiant pledge that Israel would not waver despite international pressure.
"We will continue to win because we have no other choice," he told the assembly.
The confrontational address and the coordinated walkout mark one of the more dramatic scenes in recent UN General Assembly history, underscoring the deep divisions within the international community over the ongoing conflict in the Middle East.
