‘Will not commit national suicide’: Netanyahu rejects Palestinian statehood, calls its authority ‘corrupt to the core’ at UN

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu rejected the Palestinian statehood at the United Nations General Assembly in New York on Friday (Sep 26). In his speech, Netanyahu said that recognising a Palestinian state would be tantamount to “national suicide” for his country. In his speech, Netanyahu defended the military actions of Israel in Gaza as he vowed to continue the campaign to “finish the job” against Hamas and would do it “as quickly as possible”.

Before the Israeli leader began his speech, the majority of the delegations left the hall. Those who exited the session included representatives from Arab, Muslim, and African countries. Several members of the European nations also left the hall as Netanyahu began his speech.

“Israel will not allow you to shove a terrorist state down our throats. We will not commit national suicide because you don’t have the guts to face down the hostile media and antisemitic mobs demanding Israel’s blood,” he said.

Netanyahu’s speech came days after Britain, Canada, Australia, France and other Western powers officially recognised a state of Palestine. He said that they had sent “a very clear message that murdering Jews pays off.”

Netanyahu also praised Trump in his speech. The two leaders are set to meet in Washington on Monday (Sep 29). Meanwhile, US President Donald Trump told reporters at the White House that he may have finalised a deal to end the war in Gaza. “I think we have a deal,” Trump said. “It’s looking like we have a deal on Gaza. I think it’s a deal that will get the hostages back, it’s going to be a deal that will end the war.”

Netanyahu calls Palestinian Authority ‘corrupt to the core’

Mocking the Western support for Palestinian Authority president Mahmud Abbas, Netanyahu said that the authority is “corrupt to the core.” As he gave the speech, thousands of protesters marched nearby in the iconic Times Square, demanding his arrest. Netanyahu is facing an International Criminal Court arrest warrant over war crime allegations.

In his address, Netanyahu also challenged the allegations of “genocide” in Gaza, saying that Israel has repeatedly warned the civilian population to leave by sending leaflets. However, as per humanitarian law, forced displacement is also considered a war crime.

‘We have not forgotten you’

Netanyahu noted that his speech was being broadcast on a loudspeaker in hopes of reaching Israeli hostages and Hamas leaders in Gaza.

“We have not forgotten you – not even for a second. The entire nation is with you, and we will not be silent or let up until we bring you all home, the living and the dead alike,” Netanyahu said, directly addressing the hostages in Hebrew.

Israeli hostages forum slams Netanyahu

The main Israeli group representing the families of the hostages held in Gaza said that their prime minister’s speech at the UN endangered the lives of the remaining captives.

“Every day of continued war puts the living hostages at greater risk and threatens the recovery of those who have been murdered,” the Hostages and Missing Families Forum said in a statement. “Time and again, (Netanyahu) has chosen to squander every opportunity to bring them home.”

‘Speech of a defeated man’

The Palestinian foreign ministry slammed Netanyahu’s speech, saying it was “saturated with lies and falsifications.”

“It was the speech of a defeated man, a desperate leader who once again tried to rally a West that has increasingly distanced itself from a genocidal state, using fear as his only argument,” the director of the ministry’s European affairs department, Adel Atieh, told AFP.

“This speech showed neither vision nor perspective: it only reflected growing isolation, a headlong rush forward and the anxiety of a power that knows it stands on the wrong side of history,” he added.

The media adviser to the head of Hamas’s political bureau, Taher al-Nunu, said that the walkout of delegations before Netanyahu’s speech showed Israel’s “isolation” caused by the war in Gaza. “Boycotting Netanyahu’s speech is one manifestation of Israel’s isolation and the consequences of the war of extermination,” he said.