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TEHRAN \u2014 On September 24, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu stood at the United Nations General Assembly rostrum facing hundreds of vacant seats. As his name was announced, 77 diplomatic delegations stood up and walked out of the hall in a coordinated repudiation of Israel\u2019s genocidal campaign against Gaza and the war against Iran, as well as other regional campaigns of aggression.<\/p>\n
The exodus left vast blocks of the chamber completely empty. Remaining audience members in the gallery shouted in Hebrew while General Assembly leadership repeatedly struck the gavel for order. Netanyahu opened his speech by calling those who left \u201cmoral cowards.\u201d<\/p>\n
Empty seats speaking volumes<\/strong><\/p>\n The Palestinian Mission to the UN had requested member nations to fill their seats before the session and exit en masse once Netanyahu approached the podium.<\/p>\n Dozens of states answered the call, including Iran, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Jordan, Turkey, Qatar, Indonesia, Malaysia, South Africa, Brazil, Spain, Ireland, and Slovenia.<\/p>\n The Iranian delegation left a framed photograph of the martyred General Qassem Soleimani on its empty desk before exiting. Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baqaei noted that the gesture served as a quiet reminder of martyrs who continue to haunt their adversaries.<\/p>\n Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Kazem Gharibabadi stated that the walkout spoke louder than any speech delivered at the rostrum.<\/p>\n Netanyahu tried to brush aside the walkout, claiming foreign leaders whose representatives exited had privately thanked Israel for joint strikes with the United States against Iranian nuclear sites. As usual, he provided no evidence.<\/p>\n The following day, Iranian counselor Nasser Asadi delivered a formal right of reply, described Netanyahu\u2019s presence an utter disgrace and a betrayal of the UN Charter.<\/p>\n He asked why the General Assembly, which barred apartheid South Africa in the 1970s, granted a platform to a leader facing International Criminal Court arrest warrants for war crimes, crimes against humanity, and genocide.<\/p>\n Asadi cited UN figures showing Israel dropped over 200,000 tons of explosives on Gaza, equivalent to 13 Hiroshima-scale nuclear bombs, while noting Netanyahu admitted to tens of thousands of Palestinian casualties.<\/p>\n Dissecting the claims<\/strong><\/p>\n Netanyahu spent a significant portion of his address attempting to refute international charges.<\/p>\n He labeled accusations of genocide \u201cthe greatest lie of the century\u201d and insisted Israel had actually \u201cprevented genocide.\u201d He also claimed that the Israeli military is \u201cthe most moral army in the world.\u201d To support his argument, he cited the delivery of two million tons of food, one million polio vaccinations, and millions of warning text messages sent to civilians.<\/p>\n That defense collapses when examined against international legal frameworks and independent documentation.<\/p>\n Independent UN commissions and the International Association of Genocide Scholars have concluded that the pattern of operations in Gaza meets the legal threshold for genocide.<\/p>\n Regulating minimal humanitarian supply deliveries while maintaining horrendous siege conditions, widespread bombardment, and the destruction of medical infrastructure demonstrates direct control over civilian survival.<\/p>\n Moving some civilians via text messages offers no protection when designated destination zones lack basic shelter, water, and security.<\/p>\n Netanyahu also attempted to minimize rising violence by Israeli forces and settlers in the occupied West Bank. He described the perpetrators as \u201ca handful of juvenile delinquents, numbering around 150,\u201d who throw stones or chop down olive trees, claiming the annual death toll was \u201ctwo or three.\u201d<\/p>\n UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) data directly contradicts those claims. By July 2026, settler attacks had killed at least 18 Palestinians that year.<\/p>\n UN OCHA recorded over 1,600 settler attacks resulting in casualties or property damage through September 2026, averaging more than six attacks per day.<\/p>\n Rights groups have reported a conviction rate of just 3 percent for settler violence, proving systemic impunity.<\/p>\n Stunts and public attac<\/strong>ks<\/p>\n The address also functioned as a domestic campaign speech ahead of upcoming Israeli elections rather than a diplomatic initiative.<\/p>\n Netanyahu attacked various international figures, calling Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan a tyrant, accusing Qatar of funding global anti-Israel campaigns, and condemning New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani.<\/p>\n He accused Mamdani of making New York \u201cunsafe for Jews.\u201d Mamdani responded that Netanyahu used the UN podium to repeat baseless lies to sanitize genocide, emphasizing that no rhetoric changes the reality of the ICC warrant.<\/p>\n Qatar similarly rejected the accusations, stating that shifting global public opinion stems from citizens witnessing real-time destruction on the ground rather than external influence campaigns.<\/p>\n In a widely mocked stunt, Netanyahu displayed a Starlink satellite device at the podium. He held up the satellite dish, saying Starlink \u201callows people to access truth, to exercise choice, to exercise freedom of thought and freedom of speech.\u201d<\/p>\n The gesture rang hollow. Israel has spent years systematically blacking out Gaza\u2019s communications, cutting electricity and internet while barring independent foreign reporters from the Strip.<\/p>\n The Committee to Protect Journalists recorded that Israeli forces killed more than 260 journalists and media workers across West Asia since October 2023, more than 191 of them Palestinians in Gaza alone, making Israel responsible for more journalist deaths than any regime or government CPJ has recorded since 1992.<\/p>\n CPJ data show Israel responsible for two-thirds of the record 129 press deaths worldwide in 2025 and the bulk of confirmed targeted murders of journalists in recent years. No other military comes close.<\/p>\n At the same time, Israel has poured more than a billion dollars into manipulative hasbara influence operations since late 2023, funding U.S. lobbying firms, conservative influencers, evangelical outreach, social-media amplification and efforts to shape AI responses, all aimed at managing Western opinion while the cameras stay out of Gaza.<\/p>\n Following the speech, Israeli Ambassador Danny Danon approached Iranian diplomat Nasser Asadi to hand over the terminal while making comments about regime change. Asadi looked away and refused to engage.<\/p>\n Hafez Hakami, Iran\u2019s Deputy Minister at the Ministry of Information and Communications Technology, addressed the Starlink provocation directly: \u201cThe weaponization of technology has reached a new record \u2014 now the butcher of Gaza is promoting Starlink! Starlink now faces its toughest reputational test: being publicly championed by those behind the Gaza catastrophe. Communication networks must remain neutral – serving civilians, never a tool of war or terror.\u201d<\/p>\n Mass arrests on First Avenue<\/strong><\/p>\n While Netanyahu spoke inside, civil unrest filled the streets of Manhattan.<\/p>\n Organizers from Jewish Voice for Peace staged a sit-in on First Avenue outside UN headquarters. Roughly 200 protesters wearing matching white shirts reading \u201cFund people not bombs\u201d blocked traffic while chanting against military aid to Israel.<\/p>\n New York police arrested 103 demonstrators, including Oscar-winning actor Susan Sarandon, actor Hannah Einbinder, City Council member Chi Osse, and congressional candidate Darializa Avila Chevalier.<\/p>\n The contrast was stark. Outside, peaceful protesters were handcuffed for opposing war crimes. Inside, a leader wanted by international courts used the UN rostrum to justify military aggression, greeted only by row after row of vacant desks.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n