Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called allegations of genocide in the Gaza Strip “the biggest lie of the century” as dozens of world leaders walked out during his speech Thursday at the United Nations General Assembly in New York.
Mr. Netanyahu said Israel had a right to wage war against Iran, dismissed Israel’s enemies and praised his partnership with President Trump.
“In defending itself, Israel is also defending many of the delegates who just left this hall. In fact, many of their leaders even thank us privately for taking out Iran’s nukes. It’s hard to imagine more mind-blowing hypocrisy,” he said as delegates filed out.
Many of the speeches before the General Assembly this week have called out what they said were flagrant violations of international law by the Israeli government, particularly in the West Bank and Gaza.
Mr. Netanyahu rejected criticism of Israel and its policies in the occupied territories as antisemitic in nature.
“It’s not about territories; it is about the existence of a Jewish state,” he said.
The Israeli leader’s speech before the assembly was his second since the Hamas attacks of Oct. 7, 2023, in which terrorists killed more than 1,200 Israelis and took more than 150 hostages. Mr. Netanyahu said the attacks themselves, when viewed proportionally to Israel’s population, were “like 16 9/11’s.”
He said Palestinian terrorist attacks on Israeli citizens and soldiers in the region are far more extreme than sporadic settler violence, which plagues Palestinians living in the West Bank.
Mr. Netanyahu said settler violence is carried out by only a collection of no more than 150 youth extremists.
In casting Israel’s enemies as barbarians bent on destroying the Jewish state, Mr. Netanyahu praised Mr. Trump for launching attacks on Iran’s nuclear sites.
“I thank him for his bold leadership. He boldly confronted an enormous danger to America, Israel and the world. Decades ago, he understood that if left unchallenged, the fanatic ayatollahs who chant ’death to America, death to Israel,’ would eventually carry out their mad fantasies,” he said.
Israel has taken a step back in operations against Iran, which started in late February. Although the Israeli military launched joint strikes with the U.S. on Iranian security, nuclear and political targets in the early stages of the war, Israel has mostly halted most attacks on Iran since June, when a Pakistani-brokered ceasefire began.
Iran has also halted all missile and drone strikes on Israeli territory for months.
Still, Israeli officials have remained adamant that they are willing to restart strikes on Iran if attacked first.
Mr. Netanyahu delivered his remarks just hours after Mahmoud Abbas, president of the Palestinian National Authority, addressed the assembly.
Mr. Abbas, who has served as president of the authority since 2005, was denied a visa by the State Department to attend the General Assembly for the second consecutive year. He delivered his remarks via a video message instead.
In his speech, Mr. Abbas condemned the U.S. for refusing to grant him and his delegation access to the assembly and implied that the action would only slow progress on a comprehensive agreement between Palestinian nationalist parties and Israel.
“Denying the Palestinian delegation access to the U.N. headquarters is a violation of the United States’ obligations as the host country. Therefore, we call upon the American administration to lift these sanctions and restrictions, return to dialogue and mutual respect, and work with the international community and us to implement the two-state solution.”
He said Palestinians living in Gaza and in the occupied territories are facing an “unprecedented humanitarian catastrophe.”
The Palestinian National Authority was the governing party of Gaza until the 2006 elections turned authority over to Hamas.
Mr. Abbas praised the 20-point Gaza peace plan announced in October 2025 and the Trump-brokered Board of Peace while lamenting the lack of progress. Mr. Abbas advocated an accelerated process to end violence in the territory.
“Regretfully, we have not seen any of this materialize on the ground. The Israeli killing and aggression continue to claim the lives of men, women and children in Gaza,” he said.
Phase 1 of the plan mandated an immediate ceasefire in the area and an exchange of prisoners and hostages.
The second phase calls for the full demilitarization of Hamas and the deployment of an international stabilization force composed of U.S., Arab and European personnel. A National Committee for the Administration of Gaza, led by Palestinian technocrats and supported by the Board of Peace, is intended to govern the territory.
A U.S.-mediated effort to get Hamas militants to agree to lay down their weapons if Israeli forces pulled out from Gaza stalled earlier this year once Mr. Netanyahu publicly rejected the proposal.
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