NEW YORK CITY (WABC) — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu used his address to the United Nations General Assembly on Thursday to defend Israel‘s conduct in the war against Hamas and sharply criticize New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani, drawing a mix of applause and taunts as some delegations walked out.
“If there are any other moral cowards who have not yet left the hall, please do so now,” Netanyahu said.
Netanyahu’s speech was his 15th address to the General Assembly.
Addressing critics of Israel, Netanyahu said: “To all those spreading these lies about my country and about our brave soldiers, whether they sit in this hall or in the office of the anti-Semitic mayor of New York, I say this: shame on you. Shame on you for distorting the facts.”
Netanyahu used the world stage and an audience of millions to single out Mamdani, holding him responsible for making Jewish New Yorkers less safe.
“You falsely, repeatedly accuse Israel of genocide, Mr. Mamdani. You tried to stop me from coming here. You tried to silence me. Well, you can’t silence me. You can’t silence the truth,” Netanyahu said.
In his speech, Netanyahu reminded world leaders of the Hamas massacre in 2023 that killed more than 1,200 Israelis.
He also sought to justify Israel’s response, which has killed more than 70,000 Palestinians, an action the mayor has repeatedly condemned.
“I believe him to be a war criminal and an architect of a horrific genocide of the Palestinian people,” Mamdani said.
Netanyahu rejected that allegation.
“Here is the simple truth. Israel didn’t commit genocide. Israel prevented genocide. And that’s exactly, that’s exactly what Mr. Mamdani’s Hamas buddies would have done to us, had we not stopped them. They would have killed every last one of us,” he said.
Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas addressed the General Assembly by video after the United States denied him a visa.
Abbas, who is not a member of Hamas and has condemned the Oct. 7 attacks, accused the Israeli government of “state terrorism” and “ethnic cleansing.”
“Our people are being subjected at the hands of the Israeli occupation forces to killing, destruction, starvation and attempts at displacement, as well as a genocidal war that has created an unprecedented humanitarian catastrophe,” Abbas said.
The competing addresses underscored the deep divisions over the Israel-Hamas war, with both leaders using the General Assembly to defend their positions before world leaders and a global audience.
Outside the United Nations, protesters closed northbound First Avenue at East 39th Street in Manhattan for a pop up protest.
Netanyahu landed at a military base before traveling to the East Side near the United Nations on Thursday.
Demonstrators also gathered Wednesday in the park across from U.N. headquarters ahead of his arrival.
The speech comes amid heightened scrutiny of Netanyahu and his government’s handling of the war in Gaza.
Protesters and supporters of Israel have continued to clash over the conflict, while criticism of the Israeli leader has become a focal point during the United Nations gathering.
New York City Mayor Mamdani had urged Netanyahu’s arrest over the war in Gaza, pointing to the arrest warrant issued by the world’s top war crimes tribunal against Netanyahu in November 2024, accusing him and another Israeli official of crimes against humanity.
The International Criminal Court warrant said there was reason to believe Netanyahu used “starvation as a weapon of warfare” by restricting humanitarian aid and intentionally targeting civilians in the campaign against Hamas – charges Israel denies.
While New York City does not have legal authority to execute an ICC arrest warrant, Mamdani has encouraged the federal government to do so.
Demonstrators on Wednesday expressed strong views on the dispute between Mamdani and Netanyahu.
“The one inciting violence is the one claiming there will be no Palestinian state,” said Kylian Amato, a pro-Palestinian protester.
A rabbi supporting Netanyahu criticized the mayor’s comments.
“The mayor can’t expect to use words like genocide and apartheid and war crimes and point to the prime minister of a democratically elected country, and say this man needs to be arrested. You can’t say those things and expect they’re not going to have consequences in real life.”
