Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu sharply denounced Western countries for embracing Palestinian statehood, calling it a “mark of shame.”
“You know what message the leaders who recognize the Palestinian state this week sent to the Palestinians? It’s a very clear message: murdering Jews pays off,” he said during his address to the UN General Assembly on Friday.
Netanyahu pushed back in harsh terms against a flurry of diplomatic moves by leading US allies that deepened Israel’s international isolation over its conduct of the nearly two-year-old war against Hamas terrorists in Gaza.
“This week, the leaders of France, Britain, Australia, Canada, and other countries unconditionally recognized a Palestinian state. They did so after the horrors committed by Hamas on October 7 – horrors praised on that day by nearly 90% of the Palestinian population.”
Netanyahu accused them of giving in to the pressure from activists and others who have accused Israel of war crimes.
“Over time, many world leaders buckled. They buckled under the pressure of a biased media, radical Islamist constituencies, and antisemitic mobs. There’s a familiar saying, ‘When the going gets tough, the tough get going.’ Well, for many countries here, when the going got tough, you caved,” Netanyahu said.
“Behind closed doors, many of the leaders who publicly condemn us privately thank us. They tell me how much they value Israel’s superb intelligence services, [which] have prevented, time and again, terrorist attacks in their capitals.”
At the beginning of his speech, hundreds of diplomats walked out in protest against Israel’s presence at the UN.
Netanyahu used visual materials during the speech to highlight the brutality of the October 7 massacre, including images of the destruction in southern Israel. He told delegates that Israel would not apologize for defending itself and called on the international community to stand unequivocally against Hamas.
During the live broadcast from the UN building in New York, the Prime Minister’s Office announced that the IDF took control of the telephones of Gaza residents and Hamas members, and that his speech had been broadcast live via the telephones.
Reuters contributed to this report.