Still, he praised his friend and partner in the war against Iran.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn this battle against the barbarians, we\u2019ve had no greater partner than President Trump. I thank him,\u201d Netanyahu said. \u201cI thank him for his bold leadership. He boldly confronted an enormous danger to America, Israel and the world.\u201d<\/p>\n
Expected to spend less than 12 hours on the ground in the United States, the beleaguered Israeli leader faced a lion\u2019s den in the U.N. General Assembly hall, where, one after another, world leaders sharply criticized his government from the same podium during their own speeches this week.<\/p>\n
Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas earlier on Thursday condemned what he called Israel\u2019s \u201cmalicious colonial scheme\u201d in Gaza and the West Bank. Abbas, who spoke by video after the U.S. again denied visas to the Palestinian delegation, mentioned Trump by name twice: once when welcoming the president\u2019s proposed \u201c20-point plan\u201d for peace, and again when calling on Trump to \u201cfulfill the commitments he made to the leaders of the Arab and Islamic states last September to prevent the annexation of Palestinian land and to reject displacement.\u201d<\/p>\n
U.N. Secretary-General Ant\u00f3nio Guterres on Tuesday called Israel\u2019s response to the \u201cabhorrent terror attacks by Hamas\u201d on Oct. 7, 2023, \u201can onslaught on Palestinians in Gaza, with a scale of killing and destruction unlike anything I have witnessed in all my years as secretary-general.\u201d He accused Israel of \u201cbulldozing the path to peace and raising the specter of ethnic cleansing.\u201d<\/p>\n
British Prime Minister Andy Burnham echoed the criticism, saying the threat posed to Israel by Hamas \u201cdoes not justify the Israeli government\u2019s actions in Gaza or the West Bank.\u201d French President Emmanuel Macron piled on, saying, \u201cAll those who claim that Israel\u2019s security requires the violation of the sovereignty of all of its neighboring states are making a very fateful error.\u201d <\/p>\n
Qatari Emir Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani said Israeli aggression was \u201cmarked by arrogance and hubris.\u201d Jordanian King Abdullah II explicitly called Israel\u2019s forced displacement of Palestinians in the West Bank a war crime.<\/p>\n
\tMore articles<\/p>\n
More than 70,000 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza since October 2023.<\/p>\n
Responding to his critics, Netanyahu said Thursday that Israel represented about \u201c1% of the land mass of the entire Arab world, yet they accuse Israel, tiny Israel, of colonialism.\u201d<\/p>\n
Singling out Britain and France, he said, \u201cFor God\u2019s sakes, they vetted the term. Their colonies braced the entire globe. Colonialism gave us a break.\u201d<\/p>\n
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian spent much of his General Assembly speech attacking Israel\u2019s killing of civilians and accusing the world of holding double standards.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe nuclear weapon is in Israel, but the inspectors in Iran,\u201d he said. \u201cIsrael kills, but Iran is subject to sanctions.\u201d<\/p>\n
In recent weeks, Israeli settler violence in the West Bank has escalated, with 275 Palestinian communities affected by settler attacks and more than 1,500 Palestinians displaced in total so far this year.<\/p>\n
![\"Several](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/260924-un-general-assembly-netanyahu-speech-jewish-voice-peace-protest-pi.webp\")
Police arrest protesters on Sept. 24, 2026, outside U.N. Headquarters as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks at the U.N. General Assembly in New York.Ale Basalo \/ MS NOW<\/p>\n
Netanyahu\u2019s speech to the U.N. came at a pivotal moment as he faces a tough re-election next month and Americans\u2019 support for Israel has soured. Recent polling showed<\/a> one-third of U.S. adults believe Israel has committed genocide against Palestinians in Gaza.<\/p>\n More than 100 people protesting the Israeli prime minister\u2019s arrival in Manhattan were taken into custody after they blocked a street about five blocks from U.N. headquarters, according to the New York Police Department.<\/p>\n Demonstrating outside the United Nations, Rabbi Dovid Feldman said he believed Netanyahu\u2019s actions were a violation of Judaism and international law. \u201cThis has to stop,\u201d Feldman, 53, told MS NOW. \u201cPeople are becoming aware, and this will have to end.\u201d<\/p>\n Anticipating anti-Netanyahu protests, the Israeli government\u2019s advertising agency launched a massive campaign on digital signs and billboards throughout midtown Manhattan focused on \u201cthe threat that the Iranian terrorist regime poses to the free world, and the joint efforts of the US and Israel against it.\u201d<\/p>\n Josh Einiger, Ale Basalo and Nour Longi contributed to this report.<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t![\"Julia](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/jester-1x1-1.jpg\")
\t\t\t\t<\/a><\/p>\n