UNITED NATIONS: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu sharply denounced Western nations on Friday for embracing Palestinian statehood, accusing them of sending the message that “murdering Jews pays off.” Speaking at the U.N. General Assembly, he delivered his harshest rebuke yet against a wave of diplomatic moves by leading U.S. allies that have deepened Israel’s international isolation over its nearly two-year-long war against Hamas in Gaza.
“This week, the leaders of France, Britain, Australia, Canada and other countries unconditionally recognized a Palestinian state. They did so after the horrors committed by Hamas on October 7, horrors praised on that day by nearly 90% of the Palestinian population,” Netanyahu declared. “You know what message the leaders who recognize the Palestinian state this week sent to the Palestinians? It’s a very clear message: murdering Jews pays off.”
With more countries joining the list of those endorsing Palestinian independence, Israel’s most right-wing government in history has issued its strongest declaration yet that there will be no Palestinian state as it presses ahead with its war on Hamas following the militants’ October 7, 2023, attack that killed some 1,200 people in Israel. The military campaign has killed more than 65,000 people in Gaza, according to local health officials, and left much of the territory in ruins.
As Netanyahu approached the rostrum, scores of delegates walked out of the hall while those seated in the balcony rose in a standing ovation. “Over time, many world leaders buckled. They buckled under the pressure of a biased media, radical Islamist constituencies and antisemitic mobs,” he said. “There’s a familiar saying, when the going gets tough, the tough get going. Well, for many countries here, when the going got tough, you caved. Behind closed doors, many of the leaders who publicly condemn us privately thank us. They tell me how much they value Israel’s superb intelligence services that have prevented, time and again, terrorist attacks in their capitals.”
Frustration with Israel’s military siege and U.S. President Donald Trump’s unwillingness to rein Netanyahu in has spilled into the open at the annual gathering in New York. In a dramatic shift, Australia, Britain, Canada, France, and several others embraced Palestinian statehood, saying it was necessary to preserve the two-state solution and to help end the war.
Netanyahu followed Arab and Muslim leaders who accused Israel of genocide and war crimes in Gaza, charges his government vehemently denies. The International Criminal Court has issued a warrant for Netanyahu on alleged war crimes in the Gaza war, but Israel rejects the court’s jurisdiction and denies committing atrocities. Netanyahu used his speech to rebut what he called “the false charge of genocide.”
He also addressed the hostage crisis directly. “Much of the world no longer remembers October 7. But we remember,” he said. Speaking in Hebrew, he turned to the captives still held in Gaza: “We’ve not forgotten you not even for a second.” Loudspeakers were reportedly placed at the Israeli side of the Gaza border to broadcast his address into the enclave so that hostages might hear his vow. Hamas has offered to release all remaining hostages about 20 believed to be alive out of 48 still held in exchange for an end to the war and Israel’s withdrawal from Gaza.
On Thursday, Trump suggested a deal to end the conflict and secure the hostages’ release was “close,” though he offered no details. Netanyahu, who spoke with Trump by phone and is scheduled to meet him at the White House on Monday, faces mounting pressure from hostage families and a war-weary Israeli public, even as his far-right coalition partners demand a hard line. He insists the fight must continue until Hamas is dismantled, wary of losing his fragile governing bloc if he alters course.
Trump has maintained staunch U.S. support for Israel, its chief ally and arms supplier. He told the U.N. on Tuesday that recognizing a Palestinian state risked rewarding Hamas for “horrible atrocities” and could fuel further conflict. Yet he also made clear he would not permit Israel to annex the West Bank, which Palestinians claim along with Gaza and East Jerusalem for a future state. “It’s not going to happen,” he said after Arab leaders warned him of grave consequences during meetings in New York.
That stance could inject tension into what had been expected to be a celebratory Netanyahu-Trump meeting their fourth since Trump returned to office in January.
Speaking by video after being denied a U.S. visa, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas condemned Israel’s Gaza campaign as “a war of genocide.” He praised nations that recognized Palestinian statehood, pledged that the Palestinian Authority would be prepared to govern post-war Gaza, and called for Hamas to be disarmed. Some of Netanyahu’s hardline ministers, meanwhile, have argued Israel should respond to the growing recognition of Palestine by formally extending sovereignty over parts of the occupied West Bank, effectively burying Palestinian independence hopes.
Full U.N. membership for Palestine would still require Security Council approval, where the United States wields a veto. For now, the widening gap between Israel and many of its traditional allies underscores the shifting diplomatic landscape as the Gaza war grinds into its second year.
-Doyinsola Oladipo and Matt Spetalnick
