Pro-Palestinian Protesters Rally Outside United Nations Ahead of Benjamin Netanyahu UN Address

UN speech amid Gaza war

Demonstrators gathered outside the United Nations in Manhattan on Wednesday as tensions mounted over the war in Gaza ahead of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's address to the U.N. General Assembly on Thursday.

Pro-Palestinian protester Kylian Amato said, "The one inciting violence is the one claiming there will be no Palestinian state," while Rabbi Yosie Levine of The Jewish Center said, "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."

ABC7 New York

Netanyahu posted a video in Hebrew saying, "we are departing tonight for New York to defend Israel," and added that "there will be surprises," as he prepared to use the speech to remind world leaders of the Hamas attack in 2023 that killed 1,200 Israelis and to justify Israel's military response, which he said has resulted in the deaths of more than 70,000 Palestinians.

Zohran Mamdani responded to Netanyahu's social media video by saying, "The Prime Minister is the architect of a horrific genocide against the Palestinians and just a few days ago his military killed an 11-year-old boy and what is deemed to be a safe zone in Gaza so that is what I have to say to his video."

SourcesABC7 New York

Netanyahu’s political calculus

Netanyahu is appearing in front of the UNGA for the 15th time and framed the stakes as both political and international, with Israel facing repeated accusations of genocide at the UN and systematic war crimes in Gaza and the occupied West Bank. Danny Danon, Israel’s ambassador to the UN, defended Netanyahu’s government in a telephone interview by saying, "We are aware of the fact that we had a very challenging three years since October 7," and added, "We accomplished a lot, but we were criticised."

Al Jazeera said Netanyahu is appearing in front of the UNGA for the 15th time and framed the stakes as both political and international, with Israel facing repeated accusations of genocide at the UN and systematic war crimes in Gaza and the occupied West Bank. The Guardian reported that protests were expected both in the UN’s general assembly hall and on the streets of New York City, where mayor Zohran Mamdani tempered earlier promises to arrest Netanyahu as a war criminal to assure demonstrators of their "right to [protest] in this city."

Al Jazeera

SourcesAl JazeeraThe Guardian

What the speech could target

Netanyahu is expected to deliver an offensive tone at the UN, targeting enemies and the international organization at once, while he is conducting a difficult domestic election campaign.

Netanyahu pledged to "tell the truth" about New York City Mayor Eric Adams, whom he accuses of supporting Hamas, and it quoted Netanyahu saying, "I’m coming to the United Nations, and I will tell the truth about our heroic soldiers, and I will tell the truth about you."

The Jerusalem Post said Netanyahu is expected to begin his speech at around 2 p.m. TNew York time, or 9 p.m. Israel time, and it described the address as expected to focus on the Iranian threat and to include visual aids.

BBC reported that Netanyahu condemned French President Emmanuel Macron after Macron criticized Israel's actions in the occupied West Bank during his UN General Assembly address, with Netanyahu calling the remarks a "grotesque absurdity" and saying members of Hamas "carry out attacks against Jews almost every day."

SourcesBBC