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Which countries walked out of Netanyahu's UNGA speech? Israeli PM reacts as delegates leave in dozens
Netanyahu's UNGA speech faced a mass walkout by delegates. He called them “phony human rights protesters." Empty seats included Saudi Arabia, Iran, others.
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Benjamin Netanyahu's speech at the 81st United Nations General Assembly meeting in New York City was met with a mass walkout by dozens of delegates. The walkout was encouraged by the Palestinian Mission to the UN, representatives from which are also scheduled to speak later on Thursday.
As the Israeli PM started speaking, delegates in the hall started leaving. Meanwhile supporters of Netanyahu inside cheered him as he called the delegates leaving “phony human rights protesters.”
“Where were you when the Iranian tyrants butchered and maimed tens of thousands of unarmed Iranian civilians?” Netanyahu said, adding, “If there are any other moral cowards who haven’t yet left this hall, please do so now.”
Which delegates walked out on Netanyahu's speech?
Deep Dive
So far, a confirmed list of all the countries whose delegates walked out of Benjamin Netanyahu's speech on Thursday has not been reported. Multiple outlets stated that "dozens" of them walked out.
Also read: Cuban, Iranian delegations walk out during Trump’s UNGA speech: ‘Will not allow…’
Photos from the convention center showed that Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Tunisia, Uzbekistan, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Algeria, Iran, Malaysia, Montenegro and Kyrgyzstan were among the nations whose seats were empty during Netanyahu's speech.
Jordan, Libya, the Marshall Islands, and Mauritius also had empty seats. However, many of the countries also had one delegate attending, while the rest left in protest.
Netanyahu Hits Out At Zohran Mamdani In UNGA Speech
Benjamin Netanyahu, in his UNGA speech, hit out strongly at New York City mayor Zohran Mamdani. Mamdani, a fierce critic of Netanyahu and Israel's actions in Gaza and the West Bank, released a video shortly before Netanyahu's speech.
In the video, Mamdani was seen planting an olive tree, a cultural symbol of Palestine, at Gracie Mansion, the residence of the mayor. The video also shows him having dinner with a Palestinian family.
"Mr. Mamdani, you tried to stop me from coming here,” Netanyahu said in his speech. “You tried to silence me. Well, you can’t silence me, you can’t silence the truth. And here’s the simple truth. Israel didn’t commit genocide. Israel prevented genocide.”
“The lies you and other antisemites spread about the Jews and the Jewish state have real consequences,” he added.
