DOMINANT ANGLE
Israel sees in Netanyahu's UN speech an election campaign opener as much as a response to the world, with its press divided between praise for the performance and accusations of "electoralism", a month ahead of the October 27 legislative elections.
Dominant angle identified — does not reflect unanimity of this country’s media
KEY POINTS
- 01
Netanyahu termed the genocide accusation the "greatest lie of the century", citing two million tonnes of food distributed and millions of polio vaccine doses as proof to the contrary (Jerusalem Post).
- 02
Former Prime Minister Naftali Bennett accused Netanyahu of having "whitewashed" Qatar by not designating it as an enemy state in his speech (Haaretz).
- 03
A Haaretz analysis described the speech as electioneering, noting that the applause section in an almost empty hall did not mask the growing isolation, one month ahead of the October 27 elections.
ANALYSIS
Jérusalem, September 25, 2026. Before the United Nations General Assembly on Thursday, Benjamin Netanyahu described the accusation of genocide against Israel as the "biggest lie of the century." "What genocidal regime gives millions of doses of polio vaccine to the enemy population? What genocidal regime allows the distribution of two million tons of food to Gaza, one ton per person?" he asked the assembly, according to the Jerusalem Post. The Prime Minister presented the essence of his speech as a description of the "fronts" on which Israel is fighting, including an information front against countries that, according to him, finance hostile campaigns: Qatar, accused of financing Al Jazeera and universities to "brainwash" young minds, and Turkey, whose president Erdogan he described as a "tyrant" hosting Hamas leaders.
The massive walkout of delegations, anticipated by Israeli services according to Ynetnews, which mentioned before the speech a possible hostile reception and diplomats ready to leave the room, was confirmed. To the protesters who remained in front of the UN headquarters, Netanyahu responded by calling them hypocrites: "Where were you when the Iranian tyrants massacred tens of thousands of unarmed civilians?" he asked, according to Arutz Sheva, before brandishing a Starlink device as a symbol of what the Iranian regime fears, according to him.
New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani retorted that Netanyahu had used his platform to "repeat lies intended to whitewash his genocide of Palestinians," recalling the arrest warrant from the International Criminal Court against him, according to Haaretz.
In the Israeli press, the speech is mainly seen as a campaign episode, a month before the October 27 legislative elections. An analysis by Haaretz describes it as pure electoralism: "the applause section in an almost empty room could not mask Israel's growing isolation." The Jerusalem Post mentions the "last show" of a Prime Minister whose bloc remains, according to polls, below the majority. Former Prime Minister Naftali Bennett, for his part, reproached Netanyahu for having missed the opportunity to designate Qatar as an "enemy state," accusing him of having "whitewashed" Doha while the country finances, according to him, Hamas.
SOURCES (4)
- Jerusalem PostMEDIUM
- Arutz ShevaMEDIUM
- YnetnewsMEDIUM
