In his speech at the United Nations on Thursday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu defended his country’s genocide in Gaza and its repeated attacks on its neighbours.
asserted
Netanyahu → defend → neighbours
Delegates from dozens of countries walked out of the UN General Assembly (UNGA) hall before he spoke, highlighting Israel’s isolation from the rest of the world.
asserted
he → walk → world
Recommended Stories
list of 4 items- list 1 of 4Israel’s Netanyahu set to address UN General Assembly
- list 2 of 4Benjamin Netanyahu attacks Israel’s enemies and allies in UN speech
- list 3 of 4NYC police arrest Susan Sarandon, other celebrities protesting Netanyahu
- list 4 of
asserted
police → set → Netanyahu
4Converging crises, chaos and walkouts dominate UNGA Day Three
But Netanyahu was appealing to a domestic audience with his speech, a month ahead of critical parliamentary elections that may force him out of office.
uncertain
that → 4converge → office
It was what many Israelis – angry at criticism of their country – want to hear.
asserted
Israelis → want → country
In Gaza, Netanyahu said Israel had conducted the “opposite of genocide” – despite the killing of more than 73,000 Palestinians, the destruction of much of Gaza, and the statements from Israeli politicians calling for mass killing in the Palestinian enclave and the removal of its inhabitants.
asserted
Israel → say → inhabitants
On the West Bank, the prime minister rejected accusations from Western states that Israel’s occupation was illegitimate, pointing instead to the colonial territories historically held by the United Kingdom and France.
Moreover, despite the public show of criticism, Netanyahu claimed that many of the leaders whose delegates walked out of his speech had privately thanked Israel for “taking out Iran’s nukes”.
asserted
delegates → reject → nukes
And instead of acknowledging that Israel’s actions had organically turned global public opinion against it, he rushed to pin the blame on others.
asserted
he → acknowledge → others
Turkiye’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who has been an outspoken critic of Israel, was a “tyrant”, Netanyahu claimed, while Qatar, which has attempted to mediate throughout Israel’s war in Gaza, was accused of funding “toxic media outlets like Al Jazeera”.
asserted
which → claim → Jazeera
Israel attacked the Qatari capital Doha in September 2025, before being forced to apologise by US President Donald Trump.
asserted
Israel → attack → Trump
Even the mayor of his host city was not immune from attack, with Netanyahu branding New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani an antiSemite and claiming that, despite the large number of Jewish groups protesting his presence outside the UN building, Jews were being “demonised” in New York.
asserted
Jews → brand → York
Push back
Hamad AlMuftah, deputy chief of mission at the Qatari Embassy in Washington, responded to Netanyahu’s claims, referencing the walkout in the hall and highlighting his country’s role as a regional mediator.
“At a moment of profound regional and domestic political turmoil, attacking one of the countries doing the difficult work of mediation does nothing to solve the problem,” he said.
uncertain
he → push → problem
Turkiye and Mamdani were also emphatic in rejecting Netanyahu’s accusations.
asserted
Turkiye → reject → accusations
Turkiye’s presidential Communications Director Burhanettin Duran described Netanyahu’s remarks as baseless.
asserted
Director → describe → remarks
He argued they were unlikely to distract from either Israel’s ongoing attacks in Gaza, where it continues to kill Palestinians in defiance of a so-called “ceasefire”, or the International Criminal Court proceedings against Netanyahu.
asserted
it → argue → Netanyahu
Mamdani likewise referenced the ICC warrant issued for Netanyahu for the war crimes he is alleged to have overseen in Gaza and the “baseless lies” intended to “sanitise his genocide of Palestinians”.
asserted
he → reference → Palestinians
“Netanyahu’s speech was meant to boost his election campaign back at home,” Ahron Bregman, an Israeli security analyst and senior teaching fellow at King’s College London, said.
asserted
Bregman → mean → London
“His supporters loved it.
asserted
supporters → love → it
Those who don’t support him could see in his speech the classic Netanyahu – brilliant orator but a serial liar.”
uncertain
who → support → Netanyahu
“His speech was littered with lies,” Bregman continued.
asserted
Bregman → litter → lies
“He played down the settlers’s violence in the West Bank, saying that just a few Palestinians were killed by it, while in reality more than 80 were killed [by Israeli forces and settlers] there this year.”
asserted
80 → play → forces
“The world has turned its back on him and on Israel,” Bregman added.
asserted
Bregman → turn → Israel
“He’s toxic, and Israel has turned itself into a pariah state.”
asserted
Israel → ’ → state
However, while Netanyahu may have faced growing international isolation, his allies in the Israeli government and some media outlets rallied around what they portrayed as the defiant tone of his speech.
uncertain
they → face → speech
Zvika Klein, editor of the influential right-wing newspaper the Jerusalem Post, praised Netanyahu’s delivery and defence of Israel.
asserted
Klein → praise → Israel
Columnists in other Israeli media also rushed to compare Netanyahu’s warnings to the West to that of a stern father addressing a wayward son.
asserted
Columnists → rush → son
“He gave a great performance,” said Mitchell Barak, an Israeli pollster and former aide to Netanyahu during the 1990s.
asserted
Barak → give → 1990s
Barak argued that the speech was designed to leave the delegates who stayed with the impression that Israel’s wars since 2023 had been fought not only in its own interests, but also on behalf of its allies and the wider international community.
asserted
wars → argue → allies
“No one watching in Israel could imagine any of Netanyahu’s [electoral] rivals in October doing that.
uncertain
any → watch → that
It’s impossible to picture it.
asserted
It → ’ → it
None of them could have commanded that much respect,” he claimed.
uncertain
he → command → respect
While much of Netanyahu’s electoral base may have been reassured by his address, nowhere in his speech was any hint of where Israel’s multiple wars and genocide might end.
uncertain
wars → reassure → speech
For three years, he boasted, Israel had fought on seven fronts.
asserted
Israel → boast → fronts
As it led a genocide in Gaza, Israel has also battled Hezbollah, Yemen’s Houthi rebels, Iran, militias in Iraq and Syria as well as Palestinians in the occupied West Bank.
asserted
Israel → lead → Bank
All, he claimed, had “ganged up” to wipe Israel “off the face of the Earth”.
asserted
he → claim → Earth
Closing his speech, Netanyahu addressed the remaining delegates as one, maintaining: “Over the centuries, the tyrannies that tried to destroy us failed time and again.
asserted
that → close → us
God willing, they’ll continue to fail.
asserted
they → continue → ?
If we muster our courage, if we steel our resolve, we will continue to win.”
asserted
we → muster → resolve
“This was just a repeat of his Sparta speech,“ Yossi Mekelberg, a senior consulting fellow with Chatham House said, referring to Netanyahu’s likening of Israel in September 2025 to the ancient and perennially embattled city-state.
asserted
Mekelberg → consult → state
“All he could offer was repeated references to his past heroism, military success and the need to keep fighting.
uncertain
he → offer → heroism
…and 3 more, not listed.
The Aporia
