Lashing out at his country’s critics, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu angrily dismissed allegations of Israeli genocide in Gaza in a defiant speech to the UN General Assembly that asserted his nation’s right to wage war against Iran.
asserted
that → lash → Iran
Scores of delegates trooped out of the hall in protest.
asserted
Scores → troop → protest
Netanyahu addressed the plenum after days of speeches by world leaders condemning Israel’s war in Gaza and accusing him of orchestrating a genocide against the Palestinian people.
asserted
Netanyahu → address → people
At times, the Israeli leader, facing a tough race for re-election next month, became emotional and indignant as he lectured his critics, among them New York’s mayor.
asserted
he → face → them
Netanyahu, his voice rising in emphasis, said attacking Iran “was one of the easiest decisions I’ve ever had to make” and denounced as “moral cowards” a mass of delegates who walked out of the hall when he took the podium to speak.
asserted
he → rise → podium
“In defending itself, Israel is also defending many of the countries whose delegates just left this hall,” Netanyahu said.
asserted
Netanyahu → defend → hall
“In fact, I want you to know that many of their leaders even thank us privately for taking out Iran’s nukes.”
asserted
many → want → nukes
When Netanyahu walked to the rostrum, a mix of cheers, boos and mass walkouts erupted.
asserted
mix → walk → cheers
Scores of delegates marched out and a majority of visible seats sat empty afterwards.
asserted
majority → march → seats
“Order in the hall, please,” General Assembly President Khalilur Rahman said repeatedly.
asserted
Rahman → order → hall
“If there are any other moral cowards who have not yet left this hall, please do so now,” Netanyahu said.
asserted
Netanyahu → be → hall
Netanyahu’s remarks — which at times sounded like a stump speech — were aimed largely at the audience at home as the country prepares for elections on October 27.
asserted
country → sound → October
It was delivered during the evening prime time in Israel and filled with standard talking points used to defend policies in the occupied West Bank and treatment of the Palestinians.
asserted
It → deliver → Palestinians
Netanyahu reminded the assembly of the scale of the October 7, 2023 attack in which Hamas militants killed about 1200 people.
asserted
militants → remind → people
“This is equal to 40,000 innocent Americans slaughtered in less than 24 hours,” he said, or 16 times the death count of the 9/11 attacks that left nearly 3000 people dead in New York and more in Pennsylvania and at the Pentagon.
asserted
that → slaughter → Pentagon
Netanyahu said the attack left Israel with no choice but to hit Hamas hard.
asserted
attack → say → Hamas
Many governments have accused Israel of committing war crimes, and Netanyahu himself faces an arrest warrant by the International Criminal Court accusing him of crimes against humanity.
asserted
Netanyahu → accuse → humanity
While the war in Iran has been inconclusive and caused havoc on the global economy, Netanyahu insisted he had made the right decision.
asserted
he → cause → decision
He thanked US President Donald Trump for taking decisive action against Iran, and predicted Iran’s theocratic government would fall.
asserted
government → thank → Iran
Trump made a similar assertion at the outset of the war that began nearly seven months ago, but the Iranian government appears to remain firmly in charge.
asserted
government → make → charge
Netanyahu, known for using visual aids during his General Assembly speeches, at one point held up a pager while reminding the audience of the September 17, 2024, attack in which Israel remotely detonated thousands of pagers that had been distributed to the Iran-backed Hezbollah militant group in Lebanon.
asserted
that → know → Lebanon
The pager attack wounded more than 3,000 people and killed 12, including two children.
asserted
attack → wound → children
The Israeli leader also dismissed incidents of Israeli settler violence against Palestinians in the West Bank as a “handful of young juvenile delinquents” throwing stones, chopping down olive trees and lighting fires.
asserted
leader → dismiss → fires
“I can’t stand that.
asserted
I → stand → that
I won’t stand for vigilantism,” the prime minister said before accusing foreign leaders and the international press of distorting the scale of violence in the West Bank.
asserted
minister → stand → Bank
Netanyahu’s government is dominated by settlers and their allies, and has made few arrests in the wave of settler violence.
asserted
government → dominate → violence
Israel captured the West Bank and East Jerusalem in the 1967 war, and the Palestinians want both as part of their future state.
asserted
Palestinians → capture → state
The Palestinians and most of the international community view the settlements as illegal and as an obstacle to creating a viable, contiguous Palestinian state.
asserted
Palestinians → view → state
The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs has reported more than 1600 settler attacks this year.
asserted
Office → report → attacks
At least 104 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli settlers or soldiers this year, according to the Ramallah-based Palestinian Health Ministry.
uncertain
Palestinians → kill → Ministry
Four Israelis have been killed by Palestinians over the same period.
asserted
Israelis → kill → period
This week, a settler was killed and the son of Israel’s ambassador to the US badly wounded in separate Palestinian attacks.
asserted
son → kill → attacks
Netanyahu also accused New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani of spreading lies about Israel and endangering Jewish New Yorkers with his criticism of the country’s military actions in Gaza.
asserted
Netanyahu → accuse → Gaza
Before the prime minister arrived in New York, Mamdani called him a “war criminal” and pushed for his arrest.
asserted
Mamdani → arrive → arrest
The mayor has acknowledged that New York does not have the authority to execute an International Criminal Court warrant but urged federal authorities to do so.
asserted
York → acknowledge → authorities
In past years, Netanyahu has used his General Assembly speech to both denounce the United Nations as biased and make Israel’s case to world leaders.
asserted
Netanyahu → use → leaders
His address is the cornerstone of an abbreviated trip to the United States as Israel has grown increasingly isolated throughout the war in Gaza.
asserted
Israel → grow → Gaza
The war in Gaza began on October 7, 2023, when Hamas-led militants attacked Israel, killing around 1200 people and kidnapping 251.
asserted
militants → begin → 251
At least 73,922 Palestinians have been killed in Israel’s subsequent offensive, according to the Gaza Health Ministry, part of the Hamas-run government whose numbers are generally considered reliable by the international community.
uncertain
numbers → kill → community
A ceasefire agreed to by Israel and Hamas last October halted the heaviest of the fighting and led to the release of the remaining hostages, yet further steps have since stalled.
asserted
steps → agree → hostages
…and 6 more, not listed.
The Aporia
