On Thursday, as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu began his speech defending Israel’s military operations against Iran, a number of national delegations left the UNGA hall.
In the midst of worldwide criticism of Israel’s military operations in Gaza and its broader actions throughout the Middle East, Netanyahu addressed the 81st session of the UN General Assembly in New York.
According to reports from the session, as he took the podium, a number of delegations exited the auditorium, and the Israeli leader was greeted with applause and chants from the public gallery.
Despite the departure, the Israeli prime minister carried on with his speech, spending much of it defending the choice to target Iran’s nuclear facilities.
It was difficult to destroy Iran’s nuclear facilities. It was really challenging. However, it was one of the simplest choices I’ve ever had to make in my role as prime minister,” Netanyahu remarked.
“Because we would all be dead if we hadn’t done it,” he continued.
Netanyahu recalled his long-standing promise to stop Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons and claimed that Israel’s military action against Tehran honoured that promise.
“I made a commitment to stop Iran’s deadly dictatorship from creating atomic bombs fourteen years ago. We did precisely that,” he remarked.
Additionally, he contended that Israel’s military operation had helped nations outside of its boundaries, including some of those whose delegates had departed the assembly.
Netanyahu declared, “Israel is also defending many of the countries whose delegates just left this hall. Netanyahu said that some international leaders have thanked Israel in private for destroying Iran’s nuclear facilities.
He said, “I want you to know that many of their leaders even thank us in private for taking out Iran’s nukes.”
His UN participation coincided with ongoing criticism and diplomatic pressure over Israel’s military actions in Gaza and other parts of the region. Prior to the speech, Reuters had revealed that Netanyahu’s trip to New York was remarkably short and that he had no scheduled meeting with US President Donald Trump.
Iran has maintained that its nuclear program is meant for peaceful reasons and has continuously denied claims that it is pursuing nuclear weapons. Israel’s defence of the military actions has also been rejected by Tehran.
But in his explanation of Israel’s conduct before the UN General Assembly, Netanyahu has insisted that military action was required to stop Iran from developing nuclear weapons.