Delegates staged a mass walkout as Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu gave his UN address, shortly before he railed against nations that have “waged a political and legal war” against his country.
There were boos as he decried the growing global recognition of a Palestinian state and vowed Israel would continue to fight in Gaza and “finish the job” of eliminating Hamas. The remarks fly in the face of international pressure on Netanyahu to end the war.
Addressing rows of empty seats at the UN General Assembly on Friday, he firmly rejected giving the Palestinians a state, and told world leaders who have recognised such a state this week that “we will not allow you to shove a terror state down our throats”.
Dozens of delegates walked out of the chamber as Netanyahu, who is wanted for war crimes by the International Criminal Court, took to the podium.
He accused world leaders of buckling “when the going got tough” for Israel.
“When the going got tough, you caved,” he said to the mostly empty chamber.
“And here is the shameless result of that collapse. For much of the past two years, Israel has had to fight a seven-front war against barbarism with many of your nations opposing us.
“Astoundingly, as we fight the terrorists who murdered many of your citizens, you are fighting us. You condemn us, you embargo us, and you wage political and legal warfare – it’s called lawfare – against us.
“I say to the representatives of those nations, this is not an indictment of Israel; it’s an indictment of you. It’s an indictment of weak leaders who appease evil rather than support a nation whose brave soldiers guard you from the barbarians at the gate.”
Netanyahu said he has surrounded Gaza with speakers so that his speech could reach the hostages being held by Hamas. “We will not rest until we bring all of you home,” he told them directly.
To Hamas, he said: “Free the hostages now. If you do, you will live. If you don’t, Israel will hunt you down.”
Israel’s conduct in the war in Gaza has brought a wave of support for a Palestinian state from Western nations. The UK, Canada, Australia and Portugal formally recognised Palestinian statehood on Sunday, followed by France the next day.
It has provoked the ire of Israeli ministers in Netanyahu’s coalition government who have pressured him to annex the occupied West Bank in retaliation.
US president Donald Trump, however, said he would not allow that to happen.
“I will not allow Israel to annex the West Bank. Nope, I will not allow it. It’s not going to happen,” he told reporters in the Oval Office on Thursday.
“There’s been enough. It’s time to stop now.”
The US, a staunch supporter of Israel, has opposed recognising a Palestinian state, arguing that such a move would reward the militant group Hamas, which seized control of Gaza in 2007.
Trump suggested “a deal on Gaza, and maybe even peace” was imminent – a promise he has repeated numerous times in recent months – after he presented his 21-point plan for ending the war to leaders of several Muslim-majority countries on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly.
According to reports, the US plan consists of ideas that have been discussed in recent months, including proposals put forward by Trump’s son in law Jared Kushner and former prime minister Tony Blair.
Blair has reportedly been in discussions with the US about running a transitional authority in Gaza in the event of a ceasefire.
Blair could head a body called the Gaza International Transitional Authority (Gita), which would seek a UN mandate to govern Gaza as its “supreme political and legal authority” for five years.
Since the outbreak of the war, Blair has made repeated visits to Jerusalem and his think tank, the Tony Blair Institute for Global Change, has drafted a post-war Gaza plan.
Reports suggest the Palestinian Authority, which partly governs the West Bank alongside occupying Israel and has grown increasingly unpopular among Palestinians, would not be part of those plans.
But Mahmoud Abbas, the president of the Palestinian Authority, said his organisation is willing to take responsibility for Gaza during a remote address to the UN General Assembly on Thursday.
Abbas, who was refused a visa to travel to New York, said Hamas would have no part in governing Gaza after the war, and that no matter how much anguish the Palestinians have suffered, they would remain and rebuild their land.
“It will not break our will to survive,” he said. “Palestine is ours.”
