‘Remember the beepers?’: Netanyahu flashes pagers at UN, recalls deadly Hezbollah operation - video

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu held up a pager during his address to the UN General Assembly on Thursday as he defended Israel’s military operations against Hamas, Hezbollah and Iran, while dozens of delegates walked out of the hall as he began speaking.Netanyahu used the device to reference Israel’s September 2024 pager operation against Iran-backed Hezbollah in Lebanon. He also defended Israel’s war against Iran, saying the decision to attack its nuclear facilities “was one of the easiest decisions I’ve ever had to make.”The speech was repeatedly disrupted by the departure of delegates, with many seats left empty as Netanyahu took the podium. UN General Assembly President Khalilur Rahman repeatedly called for order.“If there are any other moral cowards who have not yet left the hall, please do so now,” Netanyahu said.Netanyahu also rejected allegations that Israel had committed genocide in Gaza, calling such claims “the biggest lie of the century.” Israel has rejected allegations of genocide and war crimes in Gaza.Netanyahu holds up pager in Hezbollah referenceDuring his speech, Netanyahu held up a pager while recalling Israel’s September 17, 2024, operation targeting Hezbollah.Thousands of pagers distributed among Hezbollah members exploded in Lebanon and Syria. The attack killed 12 people, including two children, and wounded more than 3,000, according to the figures cited in the speech coverage.Netanyahu used the operation to underline his claim that Israel had inflicted major setbacks on Hezbollah and other groups fighting Israel."Israel struck Hamas, we struck Hezbollah. Do you remember the pagers?" Netanyahu said.He also described the wider conflict as a “seven-front war”, listing Hamas, Hezbollah, the Houthis, Iran, militias in Iraq, militias in Syria and Palestinian militants in the West Bank.Netanyahu said in his speech at the UN that "in the last three years, our heroic soldiers have fought a war on seven fronts. Do you know of any other country the size of New Jersey that can fight for three years on seven fronts?" Netanyahu continued: "They organized to erase us from the face of the Earth. Instead of collapsing, we delivered devastating blows to all of them with our great American friends and crushed the Iranian army and its nuclear facilities." He held up a pager and said: "Israel struck Hamas, we struck Hezbollah. Do you remember the pagers?""Netanyahu calls Iran strike an easy decisionNetanyahu strongly defended Israel’s military campaign against Iran, including strikes on its nuclear facilities."Netanyahu, his voice rising in emphasis, said attacking Iran “was one of the easiest decisions I’ve ever had to make” and denounced as “moral cowards” a mass of delegates who walked out of the U.N. General Assembly when he took the podium to speak."He said Israel’s military actions had also benefited countries that publicly criticised its operations.“In defending itself, Israel is also also defending many of the countries whose delegates just left this hall,” Netanyahu said. “In fact, I want you to know that many of their leaders even thank us privately for taking out Iran’s nukes.”Netanyahu described Iran as a “murderous dictatorship” and said Israel had sought to prevent Tehran from developing nuclear weapons.“I vowed to prevent Iran's murderous dictatorship from developing atomic bombs, nuclear weapons aimed at destroying Israel, nuclear weapons that could threaten the entire world," he said.You use AI every day. Now get your AI Quotient. Take the AIQ test.