Scores of diplomats walked out of the UN General Assembly on Friday when Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu entered the hall to address the session. The walk-out protest happened as Israel faces global isolation over its military action in Gaza.
Netanyahu, who faces war crimes charges from the International Criminal Court, declared that Israel “will finish the job” in Gaza and would do so “as quickly as possible.” Ahead of his speech, he ordered Israel’s military to position loudspeakers around the Gaza Strip to broadcast his remarks to Palestinians.
Nearly all representatives from Arab and Muslim countries walked out during the speech, joined by counterparts from several African nations and some European states, as reported by the Axios news website.
The walkout came as Israel found itself increasingly isolated on the world stage, with few allies beyond US President Donald Trump.
A day earlier, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas addressed the General Assembly remotely after the Trump administration denied him a visa. Abbas vowed that Palestinians would never leave Gaza “despite all they had suffered.”
According to Netanyahu, Israeli intelligence had also taken over phones across Gaza to live-stream the address. He called on Hamas leaders to surrender, lay down their weapons and release the hostages.
Over time, many world leaders buckled. They buckled under the pressure of a biased media, radical Islamist constituencies and antisemitic mobs. There's a familiar saying, when the going gets tough, the tough get going. Well, for many countries here, when the going got tough, you caved,” Netanyahu said.
“Behind closed doors, many of the leaders who publicly condemn us privately thank us. They tell me how much they value Israel's superb intelligence services that have prevented, time and again, terrorist attacks in their capitals,” he added.
In a dramatic shift, Australia, Britain, Canada, France and several other nations embraced a Palestinian state. They said such action was needed to preserve the prospect for a two-state solution to the Israel-Palestinian conflict and help bring the war to a close.
UN week also saw ten countries, including France, the U.K. and Canada, recognise a Palestinian state.
Source: India Today