Netanyahu Brings Ominous Prop To UN Speech, Blasts 'Moral Cowards'
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Thursday issued a fiery address to the UN General Assembly in New York, raging against his international critics and batting down genocide allegations.
He slammed widespread accusations that the Israeli army conducted a campaign of ethnic cleansing in Gaza as "the biggest lie of the century" while calling his decision to obliterate Hamas and wage war in the strip "one of the easiest decisions I've ever had to make." He added: "if we hadn't done it, we'd all be dead."
Dozens of UN delegates walked out during the speech, and at times jeers and boos were heard, after which Netanyahu berated them from the podium as "moral cowards".
At one point he said that "in the last three years," Israeli soldiers have "fought a war on seven fronts."
"Do you know of any other country the size of New Jersey that can fight for three years on seven fronts?" he posed.
The big walkout...
Netanyahu with a slight grin: "If there are any other moral cowards who haven’t yet left this hall, please do so now, thank you very much."
🇮🇱 Mark Rutte was apparently surprised delegations would walk out during Netanyahu’s UN speech...
— Mario Nawfal (@MarioNawfal) September 24, 2026
That’s like being surprised someone brought cocaine to Miami in the ’80s.
Writer: Oliverpic.twitter.com/EQ0AvaVtnY
"They organized to erase us from the face of the Earth. Instead of collapsing, we delivered devastating blows to all of them with our great American friends and crushed the Iranian army and its nuclear facilities," Netanyahu also said.
Given he was standing at the UN building in New York City, Netanyahu called out Mayor Zohran Mamdani. He chastised him as the "antisemitic mayor" - and added:
"Shame on you. Shame on you for distorting the facts. Shame on you for inverting the victim and aggressor. Shame on you for spitting in the face of truth."
Netanyahu further asserted that "many Jews no longer feel safe in New York" since Mamdani got elected. The longtime member of the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) and former NY state assembly member had previously called for Bibi's arrest as a war criminal should he step foot on American soil.
Israel is publishing the coordinates, dates and exact local times of public protests in other countries.
— S.B.S (@Wallface) September 25, 2026
The J-SOC reports appear on the Ministry for Diaspora Affairs website as part of a wider effort to protect Israel’s international image.
Here are 2,000 forecast entries. pic.twitter.com/pcfb38ftdR
"Mr. Mamdani, you tried to stop me from coming here. You tried to silence me. Well, you can't silence me, and you can't silence the truth," Netanyahu said in his speech.
He also quite provocatively brandished a pager while reminding the UN audience Israel's devastating September 2024 operation against Hezbollah leaders (and in some instances their families). He's been on many occasions touting Israeli intelligence's pager bombs - though this will likely been seen by many on the UNGA floor as a veiled threat to not oppose Israel.
Speaking of veiled threats...
🚨🇮🇱 WATCH: A member of the Israeli delegation walking around the UN hall to check which countries had left during Benjamin Netanyahu’s speech pic.twitter.com/MeYXEe6TLc
— Politics Global (@PolitlcsGlobal) September 25, 2026
Netanyahu has long been known for somewhat theatrical speeches on the UN floor, and almost every time be brings some kind of prop or visual. Iranian President Pesheshkian also brought some visuals to present before the delegates.
Clash of visuals: Iran President vs. PM Netanyahu
Starlink snub: Iran and Israel take UNGA clash beyond words pic.twitter.com/l6oOiKvLtg
— Viory Video (@vioryvideo) September 25, 2026
In this latest Thursday address, some critics have noted that the overall threatening tone of the speech (with us or against us type rhetoric) reveals some level of desperation on the part of the Israeli government as it finds itself more and more isolated on a global stage. Even the UK has of late announced sanctions on Jewish settler groups in the West Bank, which has been met with anger in Tel Aviv.