Won’t shove it 'down our throats': Netanyahu blasts Palestine recognition in UN speech

"Israel will not allow you to shove a Palestinian state down our throats," Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told the United Nations General Assembly on Friday. Slamming the leaders of the countries that recognized Palestine, Netanyahu said, "They did so after the horrors committed by Hamas on Oct. 7." 

Hundreds of diplomats left the room in protest when Netanyahu approached the podium, to lengthy whistles and cheers amid appeals for order while Netanyahu’s team and his supporters applauded. He wore a large pin on his suit that he explained had a QR code linking to a compilation of the footage filmed by Hamas on Oct. 7, illustrating the horrors of the massacre. 

Netanyahu started his speech by naming the 20 hostages that Israel believes are still alive of the 48 remaining in Gaza. He said, "I want to speak from this floor directly to the hostages through loudspeakers. I surrounded Gaza with massive loudspeakers connected to this microphone, in the hope that our dear hostages will hear our message." Netanyahu pledged that his government will not abandon them and urged Hamas to lay down their arms and release the hostages, promising, "If you do, you will live. If you don’t, Israel will hunt you down." He also said that Israel was livestreaming his speech to mobile phones of Gazans. 

In his speech, Netanyahu argued that over 90% of Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank supported and celebrated the Hamas attack, and claimed that the recognition of Palestine sent a message to Palestinians that "murdering Jews pays off." 

"Your disgraceful decision will encourage terrorism against Jews and against innocent people everywhere. It will be a mark of shame on all of you," Netanyahu told the leaders who recognized Palestine. He said that many world leaders "buckled under the pressure of a biased media, radical Islamic constituencies and antisemitic mobs."

Netanyahu claimed that the two-state solution was unfeasible because the Palestinians themselves "don’t believe in the solution." He said, "They don’t want a state next to Israel. They want a Palestinian state instead of Israel." In fact, he noted, the Palestinians did have a state in the Gaza Strip. "So what did they do with that state? Peace? Coexistence? No. They attacked us time and time again." He also said it was not just Hamas that rejected the existence of the State of Israel; "moderate Palestinians" did so as well. 

Netanyahu rejected claims that Israel was employing a policy of starvation in Gaza. "Israel is accused of deliberately starving the people of Gaza, while Israel is deliberately feeding the people of Gaza," said the premier, adding that last month, the UN had noted that Hamas and other groups had "looted 85% of the trucks" and "That’s why you have deprivation."

Netanyahu emphasized Israel’s commitment to Syria's Druze population and said he believed an agreement with Damascus could be reached that "respects Syria’s sovereignty and protects both Israel’s security and the security of minorities in the region." 

Netanyahu commended the Lebanese government on its commitment to disarm Hezbollah, calling on the Beirut leadership to enter direct negotiations with Israel. "If Lebanon takes genuine and sustained action to disarm Hezbollah, I am sure we can achieve a sustainable peace," he concluded.