Prime Minister Netanyahu mounted the podium at the UN in New York on September 27 to raise his “permanent war” cry and to attack the UN as a “swamp of anti-Semites.” He said he hadn’t intended to speak at the UN, but felt that it was necessary given all the condemnation of Israeli genocide in Gaza over the last few days at the General Assembly. 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 on Gaza until the “eradication” of Hamas. He also announced that he was prepared to eliminate Hezbollah, 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 Mahmoud Abbas, the president of the Palestinian Authority, who had called for Israel to be thrown out of the UN because of its operations in Gaza. His main target, however, was Iran, with the intent of mobilizing U.S. support for moves against that nation.
