Several delegations leave Netanyahu’s UN General Assembly speech
n Agence France-Presse (AFP) correspondent reported that diplomats left the hall upon Netanyahu’s arrival.
His speech began amid chants inside the General Assembly before he spoke and the departure of a number of delegations.
Netanyahu said in his speech: “Israel seeks peace. Israel yearns for peace. Israel has made peace and will make peace again. Yet we face savage enemies who seek our annihilation, and we must defend ourselves against them. These savage murderers, our enemies, seek not only to destroy us, but they seek to destroy our common civilisation and return all of us to a dark age of tyranny and terror.”
Netanyahu made these comments as Israel continues to bomb targets belonging to the Iran-backed Hezbollah group in southern Lebanon amid fears that the attacks could spiral into a full-scale regional war.
In his speech, Netanyahu sought to pin the blame for the conflict on Israel’s arch-enemy, Iran, saying Israel was defending itself against Tehran on seven fronts, stressing: “We must all do everything in our power to ensure that Iran never gets nuclear weapons.”
READ: In UN speech, Netanyahu holds map showing West Bank, Gaza as part of Israel
“Yes, we’re defending ourselves, but we’re also defending you against a common enemy that, through violence and terror, seeks to destroy our way of life,” he said, adding: “I didn’t intend to come here this year. My country is at war, fighting for its life. But after I heard the lies and slanders levelled at my country by many of the speakers at this podium, I decided to come here and set the record straight.”
The Israeli prime minister added: “A normalisation deal between Saudi Arabia and Israel seemed closer than ever. But then came the curse of October 7th. We will not rest until the remaining hostages are brought home.”
Netanyahu also claimed that the Israeli army has killed or captured more than half of Hamas’s 40,000 fighters and destroyed 90 per cent of its rockets.
He expressed his concern that: “If Hamas stays in power, it will regroup, rearm and attack Israel again and again and again. We are ready to work with regional and other partners to support a local civilian administration in Gaza, committed to peaceful coexistence.”
He declared: “This war can come to an end now. All that has to happen is for Hamas to surrender, lay down its arms and release all the hostages.”
As for Hezbollah in Lebanon, he remarked: “Israel has been tolerating this intolerable situation for nearly a year. Well, I’ve come here today to say enough is enough. We won’t rest until our citizens can return safely to their homes. We will not accept a terror army perched on our northern border, able to perpetrate another October 7th-style massacre. As long as Hezbollah chooses the path of war, Israel has no choice.”
Regarding normalisation with Arab countries, Netanyahu indicated: “We must continue the path we paved with the Abraham Accords four years ago. Above all, this means achieving a historic peace agreement between Israel and Saudi Arabia.”
He added: “The ICC prosecutor’s rush to judgment, his refusal to treat Israel with its independent courts the way other democracies are treated, is hard to explain by anything other than pure antisemitism.”
