Among the roles Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu relishes most, the UN General Assembly is no doubt his favorite. There, he can showcase his oratorical agility in flawless English and share without contradiction his vision of the world and Israel’s place within it. The 2025 edition, however, mostly highlighted Israel’s isolation and the emptiness of his speech and arguments, which were met with near-universal silence and disapproval.
That isolation was illustrated almost caricaturally during his address, delivered to an empty hall, while outside the UN, protesters jeered. Those boos came not only from radical anti-Israel activists but also from citizens horrified by the ongoing war – without necessarily hating Israel – and even from Israelis rejecting a prime minister who, in their eyes, is driving their country into the abyss.
Netanyahu's failed speech
Like an outdated pitchman, Netanyahu resorted to his usual tricks – charts, QR codes, quizzes, theatrical gestures – that no longer work. He now comes across as a barker whose audience has grown weary and prefers to walk away.
He waved a map to showcase Israel’s (real) achievements against Iran. Yet without articulating a way out of the crisis or a diplomatic horizon, Netanyahu failed to capitalize on these successes to strengthen Israel, instead deepening the country’s isolation – a stance he openly embraces.
When he praised the Indonesian president’s remarkable speech, he conveniently ignored that the latter’s openness depends on the creation of a Palestinian state, which Netanyahu categorically rejected in his own remarks.
Despite his defiant tone, there was something almost pathetic about Netanyahu’s UN agenda: meetings with the leaders of Serbia and Paraguay, far from his image as a geopolitical strategist conversing with the world’s great powers.
Turning to Trump
Just days ago, US President Donald Trump bailed out Argentinian President Javier Milei, in an alliance of populist and illiberal right-wing forces, as Argentina faced market attacks. Netanyahu’s warm meeting with Milei was thus, in many ways, that of two leaders in bankruptcy – financial for one, geopolitical for the other – each appealing to their American patron for a line of credit to get them out of trouble.
That leaves Netanyahu with only one card left to play: Trump, his “diplomatic creditor.” Indeed, the prime minister’s entire speech was crafted for him, brimming with flattery and the kind of oversimplifications the great man so enjoys.
And yet even Trump seems to be growing weary, as shown by his firm refusal to let Netanyahu annex the West Bank. After presenting his plan to end the war to Arab states, Trump may well impose it on Netanyahu during their meeting on Monday.
That meeting will be one where duplicity and cynicism meet vanity and incoherence. It is striking that the fate of Gaza and the region hinges on the ability of an outdated huckster to go on convincing – and deceiving – a president turned King Lear.
Born and raised in France, the writer is the correspondent of French Jewish radio, Radio J, in the US, where he has been living for 15 years. He also holds US and Israeli citizenship. His opinions are his only.