NEW YORK — The family members of Israelis held hostage in Gaza led a protest outside the United Nations Headquarters in New York City on Friday as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu delivered a speech to the world assembly.

The protesters chanted for the release of the hostages, an end to the war, and criticized Netanyahu and his government.

“We’ve been every place that Benjamin Netanyahu [has been], in Jerusalem, in New York, and told him, ‘We want only to finish, to put a complete deal on the table and finish the war. We want to see all of them, all the 48, return to Israel,’” Hagai Angrest, the father of hostage Matan Angrest, told the crowd.

Around 200 people attended the protest in Dag Hammarskjöld Plaza, across from the UN in midtown Manhattan. The protesters held yellow flowers and signs with the images of the hostages, and chanted, “Bring them home, all of them now,” and, “They’re running out of time.”

The families from Israel included the parents of hostages, both living and deceased, such as the captives Nimrod Cohen, Matan Angrest, and Lior Rudaeff. Other hostage families who live in the New York area — the parents of Itay Chen and Omer Neutra, American-Israelis whose bodies are held in Gaza — also attended.

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The families from Israel came as part of the Israeli government delegation to the UN’s annual General Assembly, held this week. They will meet with international delegations from France, the UK and the European Union.

“My dad was killed on October 7th. His body was taken, and he’s still being held captive. We need closure,” Nadav Rudaeff, the son of the late hostage Lior Rudaeff, told The Times of Israel. “The goal is to bring all hostages back and to end the war so no other soldier will be killed, because for the past almost two years now, Israel as a country, the people of Israel as a community, we’ve been living under this veil of sorrow, of hurt, of death, and that needs to end.”

Rudaeff criticized the countries recognizing Palestinian statehood this week, saying the hostages should have been a priority before the statehood recognitions.

Nadav Rudaeff, the son of Hamas hostage Lior Rudaeff, outside the United Nations in New York City, September 26, 2025. (Luke Tress/Times of Israel)

“I’m here because 48 hostages are still being held captive. All the other things that are being discussed right now in terms of recognition of a Palestinian state, until hostages are being released, I don’t think it has a place,” he said.

Other families criticized the Netanyahu government. Yehuda Cohen, the father of hostage Nimrod Cohen, said he had walked out of Netanyahu’s speech.

“We have a prime minister who is doing everything, everything to destroy the country of Israel. All the world is against us because of one man who’s trying to escape his criminal trial,” Cohen told the crowd. “I’m here to fight for the life of my son, Nimrod. He’s there in the tunnel, still alive. Fight against a person, who’s called Netanyahu.”

Yehuda Cohen, the father of hostage Nimrod Cohen, at a protest outside the United Nations, New York City, September 26, 2025. (Luke Tress/Times of Israel)

“It’s like a patient with brain cancer. The brain is the government, the cancer cells are the government ministers and the prime minister, and Israel has to go through a chemotherapy treatment to stress the country so it can get rid of its cancer, so we can end the war, get the hostages, and rebuild the country,” he said.

The crowd included Israeli expats and American Jews in New York City who protest with the city’s branch of the Hostages and Missing Families Forum.

The event closed with the crowd singing Israel’s national anthem, “Hatikvah,” or “The Hope.”

Hostage protesters, led by families of the hostages, sing “Hatikvah” at a protest outside the United Nations while Netanyahu delivers a speech inside pic.twitter.com/Pa16cGXxek

— Luke Tress (@luketress) September 26, 2025

Separately, on the other side of the plaza, several dozen leftist demonstrators held a silent protest against the war.

The protesters stood behind a police barricade on a sidewalk, holding images of the Israeli hostages and Palestinians killed in Gaza.

Attendees included New York City Comptroller Brad Lander, the city’s highest-ranking Jewish elected official, and Rabbi Jill Jacobs, the head of the progressive group T’ruah: The Rabbinic Call for Human Rights.

Protesters hold signs showing Hamas hostages and Palestinian casualties of war at a demonstration outside the United Nations in New York City, September 26, 2025. (Luke Tress/Times of Israel)

A handful of anti-Zionist protesters from the activist group Doctors Against Genocide and the fringe, extremist Jewish group Naturei Karta gathered at the entrance to the plaza after most of the hostage demonstrators from both groups had dispersed. Several pro-Israel activists engaged in a shouting match with the anti-Zionist activists.

Across town, hundreds of anti-Zionist groups gathered at Times Square to protest Netanyahu’s speech before marching down city streets toward the UN, beating drums and chanting, “Shut it down,” and “One solution, revolution,” according to footage shared online by the activists.

On Thursday night, a crowd of anti-Israel protesters gathered outside Netanyahu’s Manhattan hotel, beating drums and shouting, “Netanyahu, we’re going to get you,” and “Long live the intifada.”

Protesters march to the UN headquarters in New York City as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks on September 26, 2025. (Photo by Kena Betancur / AFP)

The protests were led by anti-Israel groups such as Within Our Lifetime and the Palestinian Youth Movement, and far-left organizations such as the People’s Forum.

Despite the leftist Jewish groups and the anti-Zionist activists’ shared antipathy toward Netanyahu, the two sides are not allies because the anti-Zionists seek Israel’s destruction and the ostracization of those they deem “Zionists.”

New York City Assemblyman Zohran Mamdani, who is leading the race to become the city’s next mayor, condemned Netanyahu’s speech in a public statement on Friday, saying, “His government is committing a genocide.”

Mamdani, a far-left, harsh critic of Israel, has vowed to arrest Netanyahu if Netanyahu visits New York while Mamdani is mayor, although the mayor does not appear to have the authority to order such an arrest.

New York City Mayor Eric Adams is a firm supporter of Israel who said he would meet Netanyahu during his visit to New York, but has not yet announced a meeting.