Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel ruled out calls for a Palestinian state during a combative speech at the United Nations in New York on Friday, saying the recognition of Palestine by more than 150 countries was “disgraceful” and vowing to “finish the job” against Hamas in the war in the Gaza Strip.
Mr. Netanyahu has for years rejected Palestinian statehood, but his address on Friday, to a largely empty hall that seemed a metaphor for his country’s diplomatic isolation, came at an especially tense time for his country. Israel has faced growing denunciation of its devastating conduct of the war in Gaza, and major Western nations like Britain, France and Canada have recently recognized Palestine, after years of holding out against calls to do so.
“Israel will not allow you to shove a terror state down our throats,” Mr. Netanyahu told the sparse gathering. He said accepting an independent Palestine would be “national suicide” for Israel and that it would be a “mark of shame” for the countries that supported it, a group that includes the vast majority of the U.N. membership.
The United States is the sole member of the U.N. Security Council that has not recognized Palestine.
Mr. Netanyahu’s speech was the first at Friday’s session of the annual meeting of the U.N. General Assembly, and many delegates and leaders either had not arrived, were boycotting or walked out when he took the podium. The image of the Israeli prime minister speaking to a hall where much of the applause came from his own delegation seemed to underline the fears by some Israelis that the country is heading toward pariah status.
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The post Defiant Netanyahu Denounces Palestine Recognition, to a Mostly Empty U.N. Hall appeared first on New York Times.
