BREAKING: Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu addressed the United Nations General Assembly this week to a divided chamber, with dozens of delegates walking out before he began By David J Harris

BREAKING: Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu addressed the United Nations General Assembly this week to a divided chamber, with dozens of delegates walking out before he began.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu

Netanyahu opened with a direct response to the walkout: "Before I begin — just a quick announcement. If there are any other moral cowards who haven't yet left this hall, please do so now. Thank you very much."

He then focused his remarks on Iran and Israel's security operations.

"14 years ago, I stood on this podium and I drew a red line. I vowed to prevent Iran's murderous dictatorship from developing atomic bombs. That's exactly what we did," he said, referring to strikes on Iran's nuclear facilities.

"Devastating Iran's nuclear facilities was hard. Very hard. But for me, it was one of the easiest decisions I've ever had to make as prime minister — because if we hadn't done it, we'd all be dead."

Netanyahu argued that Israel's actions against Iran benefited the same countries whose delegates had left: "In defending itself, Israel is also defending many of the countries whose delegates just left this hall. Many of their leaders even thank us privately for taking out Iran's nukes."

He also recounted a personal story from 1967, days before the Six-Day War, when as a teenager returning from Philadelphia he found his brother Yoni, then a 21-year-old paratrooper mobilized for war, in an orange grove. He quoted his brother as saying, "We're going to win. We have no other choice."

He noted that nine years later, Yoni Netanyahu led the Entebbe rescue operation to free 103 hostages and was the only Israeli soldier killed in the raid.

During the speech, Netanyahu held up a Hezbollah pager, stating, "Remember these things? Well, I can tell you this — Hezbollah certainly remembers them," adding that Hezbollah's leadership had been eliminated.

On allegations that Israel is committing genocide in Gaza, he said: "What genocidal regime gives a million polio vaccinations to the enemy's population? What genocidal regime enables the distribution of 2 million tons of food into Gaza?"

He also addressed New York City Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani, who was in attendance, saying, "Mr. Mamdani, since you were elected mayor of this city, many Jews no longer feel safe in New York," and criticized Mamdani's associations and past statements regarding Israel and October 7th.

On European policy, he questioned whether Western nations would align with fellow democracies or accommodate Islamist movements, warning about threats to shipping lanes and energy supplies.

Near the end of his remarks, Netanyahu held up a Starlink device and addressed the Iranian delegation, suggesting it could be used to bypass censorship.

He closed by returning to his brother's words from 1967: "We're going to win. We have no other choice."