Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu declared in a fiery address to the UN General Assembly on Thursday that Iran will lose its war with the US and Israel because the Jewish state has “no other choice” but to win.
Recalling the words his late brother Yoni used during Israel’s Six-Day War in 1967, Netanyahu said, “We’re going to win. We have no other choice,” in a speech that could be his last before the world’s peacekeeping organization, with elections fast approaching in Jerusalem.
“His words are as true today as they were more than half a century ago,” the prime minister added of his paratrooper-brother, referencing other triumphs of the Israeli military in the decades fighting against “barbarian” nations that threatened to “annihilate” the Jewish state.
That included terrorist members of Hezbollah who were killed by explosive pagers that detonated simultaneously in a stunning act by the Israelis in 2024.
Bibi brought one of the devices with him on stage, asking the UN delegates, “You remember the beepers?”
Outside UN headquarters, hundreds of demonstrators lined First Avenue to shout down Netanyahu and chant, “Free Palestine,” with some far-left politicians like House Democratic hopeful Darializa Avila-Chevalier being arrested and Oscar winner Susan Sarandon being spotted with other lefty actors.
The prime minister also slammed Syria, Turkey, Qatar and New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani — who threatened to jail him for committing international war crimes — while keeping most of his remarks focused on the Iranian threat.
“Fourteen 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, nuclear weapons aimed at destroying Israel, nuclear weapons that could threaten the entire world,” he said. “That’s exactly what we did.”
“Now, let me say something that might surprise you. Devastating Iran’s nuclear facilities was hard, it was very hard to do, but for me, it was one of the easiest decisions I’ve ever had to make as prime minister,” he continued. “Because if we hadn’t done it, we’d all be dead.”
“Now, you want to hear the ultimate irony,” he added. “In defending itself, Israel is also defending many of the countries whose delegates just left this hall.”
“In fact, I want you to know that many of their leaders even thanked us privately for taking out Iran’s nuke,” he also said.
The Post observed delegates for Iran, the Palestinian Authority, Qatar and other nations filing out as the prime minister stepped up to the podium.
Netanyahu called out the “cowards” in the UN who exited before he began his address.
“If there are any other moral cowards who haven’t yet left this hall, please do so now,” Netanyahu scolded as representatives from several nations walked out.
Iran’s representatives left up a picture of IRGC Gen. Qassem Soleimani in their place. The Iranian commander was killed by a US airstrike in 2020 during President Trump’s first term.
“It’s understandable why they left a photo of a former general. Photos are about all they have left of their senior generals,” quipped Israeli ambassador to the UN Danny Dannon in a statement.
Netanyahu, who is currently facing an uphill battle to remain in power after his country’s Oct. 27 elections, acknowledged “differences” with Trump in his speech — but affirmed that the president’s “bold leadership” had helped Israel confront the immense danger of Iran’s nuclear program.
“He understood that if left unchallenged, the fanatic Ayatollahs who chant, ‘Death to America, death to Israel,’ would eventually carry out their mad fantasies,” he said. “So Israel and America acted together — not only to protect ourselves, but to save civilization.”
At one point, Netanyahu also suggested that the Iranian regime was closer to toppling than its officials have let on in negotiations amid the war with the US and Israel, raising up a Starlink device that allows dissidents in Tehran to access the internet.
“The Iranian regime is especially afraid when their people have this,” he noted.
Trump left New York before the speech to attend a state dinner with China’s Xi Jinping back in Washington.
The longest-serving prime minister in Israel’s history also delivered a sharp rebuke to Qatar for spending “untold billions to spread lies about my country,” claiming that massive funding campaigns to US universities and media outlets have “brainwash[ed] young minds to hate Israel, hate America, hate the West.”
Turkey also got a verbal thrashing from Bibi for being “a super-spreader of anti-semitic lies” and ruling as “a tyrant” with disdain for the free press, norms of peacekeeping bodies and international borders.
Netanyahu also railed against those nations and leaders like Mamdani who have accused his nation of “genocide.”
“Mr. Mamdani, you tried to stop me from coming here,” the prime minister said. “You tried to silence me. Well, you can’t silence me. You can’t silence the truth. And here is the simple truth … Israel didn’t commit genocide. Israel prevented genocide.”
“That’s exactly what Mr. Mamdani’s Hamas buddies would have done to us had we not stopped them,” he added. “They would have killed every last one of us.”
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