Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu addresses the 80th United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) at U.N. headquarters in New York City, U.S., on September 26, 2025.
| Photo Credit: Reuters
Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the UN on Friday (September 26, 2025) denied accusations of “genocide” in Gaza and using “starvation” as a tactic, insisting Israel was actually feeding the people of the devastated Palestinian territory.
“Those who peddle the blood libels of genocide against Israel are no better than those who peddled the blood libels against Jews in the Middle Ages,” Mr. Netanyahu said.
Mr. Netanyahu called countries’ recognition of Palestinian state ‘shameful.’
People walk out before Netanyahu’s speech
He spoke after dozens of delegates from multiple nations walked out of the UN General Assembly hall en masse as he prepared to speak.
He aggressively ruled out Palestinian statehood in his speech to those delegates who stayed to listen that it would be tantamount to “national suicide” for his country.
State of Palestina empy seats as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu addresses the 80th United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) at U.N. headquarters in New York City, U.S., on September 26, 2025.
| Photo Credit:
Reuters
“Israel will not allow you to shove a terrorist state down our throats. We will not commit national suicide because you don’t have the guts to face down the hostile media and antisemitic mobs demanding Israel’s blood,” he said.
As he has often in the past, Mr. Netanyahu held up a visual aid — a map of the region titled “THE CURSE.” He marked it up with a large marker. Later, he pinned a QR code onto his suit jacket and held up a board with a multiple-choice question that he read to the audience.
He also frequently praised President Donald Trump, his chief ally in his political and military approach in the region.
In an “unprecedented operation,” the Israeli army will take over the mobile phones of Gaza residents and Hamas operatives and his speech will be broadcast live through the mobile devices.
Netanyahu on hostages
Benjamin Netanyahu vowed to continue Israel’s war against Hamas in the Gaza Strip and told the hostages still held by the Palestinian militants they were not forgotten while speaking at the United Nations on Friday (September 26, 2025) .
Speaking in Hebrew, the Israeli leader said: “We’ve not forgotten you – not even for a second.”
Mr. Netanyahu said on Friday that his country has “crushed the bulk” of armed Palestinian group Hamas’s “terror machine” and sought to finish the job “as fast as possible.”
Mr. Netanyahu celebrated what he said was a series of Israeli strategic victories in the past year that also included targeting Iran’s nuclear program and assassinating the Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah in Lebanon.
Published – September 26, 2025 07:32 pm IST
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