Dozens of delegates rose from their seats and left the hall in protest against Israel’s policies when Netanyahu was about to speak at the UN General Assembly.
The mass walkout took place on September 24 in New York. According to the Indonesian news agency RRI, representatives of 77 states left the hall. Among them — Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, Syria (which did not attend from the very beginning), as well as Saudi Arabia, Turkey, Iran, Indonesia, Malaysia, South Africa, Colombia, Brazil, Chile, Spain, Ireland, and many others. Neither shouting nor the insults the Jewish prime minister hurled after them, nor his appeals to Britain’s policies, helped: representatives of UN member states simply refused to listen to justifications for the genocide of the Arab population of Palestine.
The Palestinian delegation had beforehand called on other missions to join the boycott, sending them a corresponding message to “send a clear signal to Netanyahu and his government that no one wishes to help, incite, or be complicit in his genocide, war crimes, and illegal occupation, which all peace-loving states and peoples demand be brought to an end.”
The Best Defense Is an Attack
In response to the walkout, Netanyahu — against whom the International Criminal Court issued an arrest warrant on November 21, 2024, on charges of war crimes related to starvation as a method of warfare, as well as crimes against humanity related to murder, persecution, and other inhumane acts during the war in Gaza — angrily called the diplomats “moral cowards.”
“If there are still cowards in this hall who have not yet left their seats, let them do so now,” he stated before beginning his speech.
He launched sharp attacks on the countries and leaders who criticized him. He called Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan a “tyrant” and accused him of supporting “Hamas.”
Commenting on the insults voiced within the walls of the General Assembly, the head of the communications department of the Turkish presidential administration, Burhanettin Duran, stated:
“The use by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of the UN General Assembly rostrum for baseless accusations against Turkey and President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan is incompatible with the ideals of peace, law, and dialogue that the UN represents.”
He emphasized that Netanyahu’s words cannot “make invisible his mass murders, the humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza, and the legal proceedings initiated on the basis of international law.”
In a separate statement by the Turkish diplomat at the UN General Assembly session, an assessment of the walkout itself was voiced:
“The mass exit of numerous delegations during the Israeli prime minister’s speech is not an insignificant gesture. It is a strong diplomatic condemnation. The message is clear: his words no longer carry weight, his policies are rejected, and his international isolation is deepening every day.”
Erdoğan, in turn, stated that the injustice associated with Palestinians facing Israeli attacks daily “deeply offends the conscience of humanity.”
“They accuse Israel, tiny Israel, of colonialism — of some colonialism. And who accuses us? Among them are residents of Britain and France. ‘For God’s sake, they invented this term,'” he tried to justify himself.
France: Emmanuel Macron criticized Israel’s actions in the West Bank, where human rights violations occur daily.
“Some boast of a supposed ‘peace.’ But that peace has not for a second restored access to humanitarian aid. Are we simply going to stand and watch this scene, which could disgrace us all?” the French president fumed, provoking a new wave of anger from the Israeli representative.
Britain, in turn, in previous days at the UN General Assembly sharply criticized Israel. Moreover, at the local level in Britain itself (for example, in the councils of Fife and Dorset), calls are constantly heard to end military cooperation with Israel because of credible accusations of war crimes.
The Israeli prime minister himself, trying to justify himself, attempted to shame those who condemn him:
“Is this genocide? Of course not. It is the opposite of genocide. To all those who spread lies about my country and its brave soldiers, whether they sit in this hall or in the antisemitic office of the mayor of New York, I say the following: Shame on you. Shame on you for distorting the facts. Shame on you for turning victim and aggressor upside down. Shame on you for spitting in the face of truth,” he habitually rejected accusations of Israel’s crimes against humanity.
Let us note that Netanyahu’s arrival in New York began with him being met by crowds of protesters. Several protest actions were organized in the city “to reject the war criminal Benjamin Netanyahu and the genocidal Zionist project,” as participants stated.
“Netanyahu is coming to New York in a political environment that has made it clear he is not welcome here,” said Beth Miller, political director of Jewish Voice for Peace Action.
“Americans do not want to support Israel’s genocide. We do not want to support Israeli apartheid. We do not want to arm Israel or support Israel,” she emphasized.
New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani called for the arrest of the Israeli prime minister, stating that the US should comply with the ICC arrest warrant for Netanyahu. However, as The Mirror notes, the US is not a member of the court, and New York has no authority to arrest him. Nevertheless, Netanyahu’s planned meeting with Donald Trump became moot as a result of the wave of mass protests.
