Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu mounted the podium at the UN in on Sept. 27 to raise his “permanent war” cry and to attack the UN as “a swamp of anti-Semitic bile.” He said he hadn’t intended to speak at the UNGA General Debate, but felt that it was necessary given all the condemnation of Israel’s genocide against Gaza at the General Debate. He also brought his own chorus of supporters who filled the balcony of the assembly hall to hoot and holler in support of Netanyahu’s most egregious statements. It’s good that he brought his own crowd, as the Arab delegations demonstratively got up and left their seats as Netanyahu walked to the podium. The Assembly Hall remained fairly empty, with many countries’ delegates absent.
He made clear that he was not going to relent in his war against Palestinians in Gaza until the “eradication” of Hamas. He also announced that he was prepared to eliminate Hezbollah (perhaps not to mention some 270,000 Palestinian refugees in Lebanon), calling on the government of Lebanon to help in that effort. He then went through all the individual atrocities committed by Hamas during the incursion in southern Israel. He said that peace would return to the region as soon as Hamas surrendered and released all the hostages. He wasn’t very clear about how a future Gaza would be governed, and he even launched an attack on Palestine’s President Mahmoud Abbas, who had called for Israel to be thrown out of the UN because of its genocide in Gaza. His main target, however, was Iran, with the intent of mobilizing U.S. support for moves against that nation.
