According to Israeli officials, 77 delegations were either absent from the hall altogether or left at the start of Netanyahu’s remarks. Among them were all four of Israel’s immediate neighbors—Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, and Syria—as well as Saudi Arabia, Turkey, and Iran.
Walkout at the beginning of Netanyahu’s speech
(Photo: UN)
Officials noted, however, that not all absences were boycotts. In some cases, representatives simply did not attend the morning session in New York, where Netanyahu was the first scheduled speaker.
Jordan and Egypt, for instance, did not take their seats, but did not join the staged protest. Pakistan’s delegation walked out in protest but then stood at the sidelines to listen to the speech, Israeli officials said.
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Benjamin Netanyahu during the UN General Assembly speech
(Photo: Reuters/Caitlin Ochs)
By contrast, envoys from Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates—both signatories to the 2020 Abraham Accords—remained in their seats to hear Netanyahu, despite ongoing strains in relations over the war in Gaza and calls from some of his coalition partners to annex parts of the West Bank.
The walkout was widely covered in international and Arab media, with many outlets leading their reports on the emptying chamber rather than on Netanyahu’s pledges to “finish the job” against Hamas. Even Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei shared images of the protest online, calling Israel “the most despised and isolated regime.”
The 77 countries listed as absent or walking out included Spain, Brazil, South Africa, Ireland, Malaysia, Indonesia, Kuwait, Qatar, Oman, and several from Latin America, Africa, and the Pacific.
Israel’s review emphasized that the dramatic protest underscored the challenges the government faces on the world stage, as diplomatic fallout from the Gaza war deepens.
These are the 77 countries that did not attend the speech or walked out at its start:
Suriname
Tuvalu
Turkmenistan
Yemen
Egypt
Panama
Senegal
Palestine
Sudan
Tunisia
Turkey
Venezuela
Antigua and Barbuda
Belize
Congo
Oman
Qatar
Saudi Arabia
Tonga
Uzbekistan
Angola
Barbados
Colombia
Comoros
Dominica
Djibouti
North Macedonia
San Marino
South Africa
Somalia
Algeria
Bangladesh
Brunei Darussalam
Brazil
Chile
Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC)
Lebanon
Liberia
Eritrea
Chad
Central African Republic
Libya
Mauritania
Jordan
Nicaragua
Madagascar
Niger
Peru
Saint Lucia
Slovenia
Afghanistan
Bahamas
Bosnia and Herzegovina
Botswana
North Korea
Eswatini
Syria
Uganda
Pakistan
Lesotho
Bolivia
Spain
Cuba
Equatorial Guinea
Iran
Kyrgyzstan
Iraq
Mozambique
Myanmar
Ireland
Maldives
Indonesia
Kuwait
Namibia
Malaysia
Guyana
Kenya