Benjamin Netanyahu concluded his fiery UN General Assembly address with a stark warning to Iran.
The Israeli prime minister, 75, spoke Thursday at the UNGA in New York City, where Iranian representatives had already staged a mass walkout and left up a picture of deceased IRGC commander Qassem Soleimani before exiting the chamber entirely. The chilly reception from delegates came as several celebrities, including actress Susan Sarandon and New York congressional candidate Darializa Avila Chevalier, were detained by the NYPD for blocking a roadway before the speech began.
Netanyahu predicted that Iranian dissidents will overthrow the leaders of the Islamic Republic in “a matter of time.”
“It’s only a matter of time that, in Iran, something incredible will happen: The power of the people will overcome the people in power,” Netanyahu said during his Thursday speech to the UN General Assembly.
“I want you to listen to my words carefully: one day, and it may not be far away, the Iranian people will be free. Their murderous regime will be toppled by its lies, by its corruption, by its cruelty,” he added.
“This evil regime will fall, and we will all celebrate that day.”
The Israeli leader devoted significant portions of his address to attacking New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani, accusing the socialist leader of having made the city unsafe for Jews and falsely accusing his nation of “genocide.”
“Mr. Mamdani, since you were elected mayor of this city, many Jews no longer feel safe in New York. They talk to me,” Netanyahu said. “They tell me this isn’t the city we remember. It changed so quickly.”
The Israeli PM erupted, “Now it’s no wonder you praise criminals convicted of supporting Hamas — you count as friends people like Hasan Piker, who said… America deserved 9/11. Some friends you have.”
“Your wife liked to post praising the October 7th massacre. She liked another post saying Tel Aviv shouldn’t exist,” Netanyahu continued. “You refused to condemn any of that. You falsely, repeatedly accuse Israel of genocide.”
Netanyahu also noted the mayor’s threats to have him arrested if he showed up for his UN speech at the 2026 General Assembly.
“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.”
“The lies you and other anti-Semites spread about the Jews and the Jewish state have real consequences. In New York, Jews are threatened on the way to synagogue. Jews have been stabbed in the streets. Jews are demonized, targeted. They’re targeted simply for being Jews,” Netanyahu also said.
On the Gaza conflict, Netanyahu defended his military’s actions by citing humanitarian aid statistics. The prime minister said that his country had supplied 2 million tons of food into the Gaza Strip during the IDF’s war with Hamas terrorists there.
“That’s a ton for every person. Accusing Israel of genocide is the greatest lie of the century,” Netanyahu erupted.
Netanyahu broadened his attack to two foreign governments he accused of funding anti-Israel propaganda. He called out Qatar and Turkey in his UN General Assembly address Thursday for spreading “lies” about his country.
“Several foreign countries have spent untold billions to spread lies about my country. The first to do so was Qatar, decades ago,” Netanyahu said.
“It started massively funding American universities and toxic media outlets like the outlet. They did the same in Europe, by the way, and their goal was clear brainwash young minds to hate Israel, hate America, hate the West,” he added.”This is the same Qatar that hosts the Hamas butchers of October 7th.”
Netanyahu also said: “Now the latest country to become a super spreader of anti-semitic lies is Turkey’s Erdogan. Erdogan is a tyrant. He also hosts the Hamas terror chiefs. He’s murdered thousands of Kurdish civilians. He denies the Armenian genocide. He jails journalists and opposition leaders.”
“In fact, I think he holds the world’s record on this, and that’s a tough call. But I think he’s number one. He illegally occupies Northern Cyprus, an EU member, and he regularly transgresses against Greece, a NATO member. Now he wants to take over Syria,” Netanyahu said.