Netanyahu slams critics, Mamdani in defiant speech as UN delegates walk out

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu delivered a defiant speech at the United Nations General Assembly, defending Israel’s actions against Iran and its proxy forces across the Middle East, as several delegates staged a walkout.

Netanyahu appeared in New York while the subject of an International Criminal Court arrest warrant against him loomed. The body accused the prime minister of facilitating war crimes throughout Israel’s military operation in the Gaza Strip, triggered by Hamas’s Oct. 7, 2023, attack against the country.

“On that darkest of days, our enemies expected us to collapse,” Netanyahu said in his speech.

“Well, we didn’t collapse. Instead, we rose and fought like lions for the past three years. Our heroic soldiers have fought day in and day out in a seven-front war.”

Netanyahu began his remarks urging “moral cowards” to exit the General Assembly Hall alongside the diplomats who had already boycotted his speech. The Israeli delegation whooped and cheered for Netanyahu, chanting in Hebrew, “The people of Israel live.”

The Israeli leader, who is under intense isolation globally — including unfavorable views from the majority of Americans — took aim at one of his most high-profile U.S. critics, New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani (D).

Mamdani had called for the U.S. to act on the ICC arrest warrant when the Israeli leader arrived in the country for the U.N. meeting.

“To all those spreading these lies about my country and about our brave soldiers, whether they sit in this hall or in the office of the antisemitic mayor of New York, I say this: Shame on you!” Netanyahu said.

“Mr. Mamdani, you try to stop me from coming here. You try to silence me. Well, you can’t silence me,” Netanyahu continued, also rejecting the mayor and other critics’ allegations that Israel committed genocide against Palestinians in Gaza.

Netanyahu argued Israel has no choice but to defend itself against Palestinian attacks in the West Bank, “militias” in Syria, the Houthis in Yemen and Iranian forces, as well as to counter Hezbollah in Lebanon.

While American delegates at the U.N. stayed and applauded Netanyahu’s speech, the Israeli leader appears increasingly isolated from President Trump and his administration. While Netanyahu traveled to the White House after his 2025 speech at the U.N., he will not do so this year — carrying out a shortened agenda in the U.S. as Trump left to welcome Chinese President Xi Jinping in Washington.

Israeli and American officials said there was no time for Trump and Netanyahu to meet, pointing to the High Holy Days in the Jewish calendar and the Israeli prime minister’s ongoing reelection bid. Israel’s elections are set for October.