Netanyahu Slams United Nations Antisemitism in General Assembly Speech

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Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu condemned what he called “moral confusion” in the United Nations (UN) on September 27, during his address on the third day of the UN General Assembly. “We see this moral confusion when Israel is falsely accused of genocide when we defend ourselves against enemies who try to commit genocide against us. We see this too when Israel is absurdly accused by the [International Criminal Court] prosecutor of deliberately starving Palestinians in Gaza,” Netanyahu said, adding that Israel provides Palestinians in Gaza with over 3,000 calories of food aid daily, in accordance with international standards.

Netanyahu highlighted the accomplishments and prosperity brought about by the 2020 Abraham Accords between Israel, the United Arab Emirates, and Bahrain — and later improvements between Israel and Saudi Arabia — to the alternative of a Middle East dominated by the theocratic regime in Iran. In that regard, the Israeli premier displayed two maps of the region. One,  which he described as the “blessing,” was a visualization of Arab states that have either made peace with Israel or appeared likely to do so before Hamas’s atrocities on October 7. The other map, which he referred to as “the curse,” highlighted Iran’s malign activities in the region, showcasing the threat Tehran’s proxies pose to global trade and international security. Those proxies include Hezbollah in Lebanon, Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad in Gaza and the West Bank, the Houthi rebels in Yemen, and the various Iran-backed militias in Iraq and Syria.

“Israel has made its choice. We seek to move forward to a bright age of prosperity and peace. Iran and its proxies have also made their choice. They want to move back to a dark age of terror and war,” Netanyahu declared. “What choice will you make? Will your nation stand with Israel? Will you stand with democracy and peace, or will you stand with Iran — a brutal dictatorship that subjugates its own people and exports terrorism across the globe?”

Expert Analysis

“Netanyahu effectively zoomed out to remind the world that it’s Iran pulling the strings in a seven-front war and that Iran’s threat is to the free world, not just Israel. Countries that sat through Iran’s speech but walked out on Israel’s proved Netanyahu right about Turtle Bay’s swamp of antisemitism.” — Richard Goldberg, FDD Senior Advisor

“This week’s General Assembly at the UN proved beyond doubt that this organization’s worldview is based on the outrageously false premise that all states are peace-loving, law-abiding and respectful of human rights — with the exception of the one Jewish state in the world.” — Ben Cohen, FDD Senior Analyst and Rapid Response Manager

Netanyahu Confronts Antisemitism at UN

Netanyahu’s speech came at the end of a week of visceral attacks on Israel at the General Assembly, with several speeches accusing the Jewish state of “genocide” as well as comparisons with Nazi Germany.  “Until Israel, until the Jewish State, is treated like other nations, until this antisemitic swamp is drained, the UN will be viewed by fair-minded people everywhere as nothing more than a contemptuous farce,” he said. Referring to Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas’s speech the previous day, in which Abbas called for a resolution to expel Israel from the United Nations, Netanyahu said that the assembly was Abbas’s home court — an “anti-Israel flat-Earth society” where “there’s an automatic majority willing to … demonize the Jewish State.” According to Netanyahu, there “have been more resolutions passed against Israel in this hall, in the UN General Assembly, than against the entire world combined. Actually, more than twice as many,” including 174 condemnations of Israel compared to 73 against all other countries since 2014.

Related Analysis

“UN Calls to Boycott Israel and Institute Arms Embargo,” FDD Flash Brief

“United Nations’ Bigotry Towards Israel: UNRWA Anti-semitism Poisons Palestinian Youth,” by Jonathan Schanzer

“How António Guterres betrayed the Jews,” by Ben Cohen

“UN Equates Israel With Hamas in ‘Children in Armed Conflict’ Blacklist,” FDD Flash Brief