Netanyahu Denounces UN Attackers of Israel: ‘Moral Cowards’ Who’ve ‘Succumbed to Mobs’

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu used his United Nations address to strike back after a week of attacks on Israel and said the Jewish state must defeat its enemies — Iran, terrorists, European antisemites, Mayor Zohran Mamdani — to survive. “Before I begin, just a quick announcement,” Mr. Netanyahu said as he was about to start his 16th address to the UN General Assembly as prime minister. “If there are any other moral cowards who haven’t yet left this hall, please do so now, thank you very much.”Smiling sarcastically, Mr. Netanyahu was reacting to a mass exodus from the hall. Two sources told The New York Sun that the protest departure was well organized ahead of the speech, and that many of those who left have not been present in the assembly venue beforehand. Unlike in past years, Mr. Netanyahu brought no props to bolster his speech. The exception was a square white plate, a Starlink device. Turning to the podium behind him Mr. Netanayhu said, “Mr. President, I’m going to leave this device with you so you can give it to the Iranian delegation. So when they inevitably defect, they too will be able to freely tell their story on social media.”The Islamic Republic of Iran and its proxies filled much of the address. “Do you know any other country the size of New Jersey capable of fighting a seven-front war, and for three years?” he said. “Hamas, Hezbollah, the Houthis, Iran, militias in Iraq, militias in Syria, Palestinian terrorists in Judea, Samaria.” While little new ground was broken in the 38 minute address, the premier decided to use much of his speech to answer a host of heads of state and other speakers who had addressed the UN before him. The vast majority used the podium to accuse Israel of war crimes, genocide, and worse, he said.The term “colonialism” is used by protesters in Western streets, Mr. Netanyahu said, “among them are people in Britain and in France. For God’s sake, they invented the term. Their colonies braced the entire globe” — and rather than oppose anti-Israel lies, the leaders of these countries “have chosen to succumb to the mobs.”New York — where Mr. Netanyahu lived as Israel’s UN ambassador from 1984 to 1989 — has turned into a place where Jews no longer feel safe largely because of “the anti-Semitic mayor of New York.” To him, he adds, “I say this: shame on you, shame on you for distorting the facts, shame on you for inverting victim and aggressor, shame on you for spitting in the face of truth, Mr. Mamdani.” While answering those who attack Israel, the theme repeated throughout the premier’s speech was “We’re going to win because we have no other choice.” He said it was first instilled in him as a high school student on the eve of Israel’s 1967 victorious six-day war.The future premier’s older brother, Jonathan, was a soldier, and when the young Mr. Netanyahu asked him what would happen in the coming war that Israel would be forced to wage, the idea that no other choice but victory became Mr. Netanyahu’s lifelong motto. His brother Yoni was later killed leading one of history’s most daring commando operations, the rescue of Jewish hostages whose plane was hijacked to Entebbe, Uganda.Mr. Netanyahu’s rivals in the upcoming election accuse him of culpability in Israel’s failure to predict the October 7, 2023, Hamas massacre, and defend the victims. Instead, Mr. Netanyahu chose to highlight Israel’s battlefield successes since then, including such spectacular operations as the beeper strike against Hezbollah operatives, the decimation of much of Hamas, and the war waged against Iran alongside America.

Netanyahu Denounces UN Attackers of Israel: ‘Moral Cowards’ Who’ve ‘Succumbed to Mobs’

Netanyahu Denounces UN Attackers of Israel: ‘Moral Cowards’ Who’ve ‘Succumbed to Mobs’

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