Protests and walkouts: How Netanyahu’s UNGA speech garners the wrath of pro-Palestinians

Delegates around the world staged a walkout during the speech of Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as he pledged to ‘finish the job’ in Gaza. In his address to the United Nations General Assembly on Thursday, Netanyahu called the recognition of a Palestinian state by several Western nations “insane”.

The Israeli premier’s provocative remarks on the international stage came after the UK, France, Canada, Australia, and other countries broke with the United States to recognise an independent Palestinian state. Netanyahu claimed that the two-state solution, often pushed in the region, is “sheer madness. It’s insane, and we won’t do it.”

“Giving the Palestinians a state one mile from Jerusalem after October 7 is like giving al-Qaeda a state one mile from New York City after September 11,” he said. It is pertinent to note that with the latest entries, 157 of 193 UN member states recognise Palestine as an independent state.

The walkout

More than 100 diplomats from over 50 nations staged a walkout as soon as Netanyahu took the stage for his address, according to the tally reported by The Washington Post. The Israeli prime minister’s speech was also coming hours after US President Donald Trump said that he would restrain Netanyahu from annexing territories in the West Bank in retaliation for the expressions of support for Palestinian statehood.

“I will not allow Israel to annex the West Bank … It’s not going to happen,” Trump said on Thursday. Interestingly, Netanyahu did not address the controversial plan in his Friday address. Meanwhile, his office said that the Israeli premier would only respond after he meets with Trump at the White House on Monday.

Targeting the UK, France and other countries that recognised Palestine, Netanyahu said: “You didn’t do something right. You did something wrong, horribly wrong.” “Your disgraceful decision will encourage terrorism against Jews and against innocent people everywhere,” he said.

While Netanyahu was addressing the gathering, more than 22 people were killed in Gaza on Friday, AFP reported. There was also a strike reported by Al Jazeera on a tent camp for displaced people in central Gaza’s Nuseirat camp.

In his address, Netanyahu vowed to continue an offensive targeting Gaza City, ignoring international condemnation over the ongoing humanitarian crisis in the coastal enclave. “The final remnants of Hamas are holed up in Gaza City,” he said, and Israel “must finish the job” to avoid facing attacks like those on 7 October “again and again and again”. “That is why we want to do so as fast as possible.”

He also outrightly denied accusations that Israel is committing ‘genocide’ in Gaza. “Would a country committing genocide plead with the civilian population it is supposedly targeting to get out of harm’s way?” The speech was highly contentious and delivered to a mostly empty room in the general assembly’s grand hall, which has a capacity for 1,800 people, the Washington Post reported.

The NYC protests

While Netanyahu was delivering his speech inside, thousands held demonstrations outside the New York City building where the meeting was taking place. Apart from this, protests were also held at Times Square across Midtown.

Many of these demonstrators were arrested as nearly two dozen people protested in a small but noisy gathering near Netanyahu’s hotel in the Lenox Hill neighbourhood on the east side of Manhattan. The demonstrations were quite active at midnight, ahead of Netanyahu’s address.

Protesters carried Palestinian flags and signs saying “genocide” and other statements, banged drums, chanted and yelled “baby killer”, “free Palestine” and “fuck Israel” in the street, according to footage posted to social media. While concluding his speech, Netanyahu issued an ultimatum to Hamas.

“Lay down your arms,” he said. “Let my people go. Free the hostages. All of them. The whole 48. Free the hostages now.” “If you do, you will live. If you don’t, Israel will hunt you down,” he added. Back home, the speech was marked by props and publicity. It was blasted on the loudspeakers of Israeli authorities stationed in Gaza.

Netanyahu’s office claimed it was also transmitted on telephones in the territory that had been hijacked by the Israeli intelligence services. During the speech, the Israeli prime minister also used visual props, including a QR code that he encouraged viewers to scan: it linked to footage of the 7 October attacks by Hamas.