NEW YORK(National Times)- Dozens of delegates walked out of the UN General Assembly hall on Thursday as hundreds of protesters gathered outside the building while Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu defended Tel Aviv\u2019s actions amid growing international isolation, with elections looming that could threaten his political future.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The walkout undersco\u00adred the competing pressu\u00adres facing Netanyahu, who is battling mounting criticism abroad over the Gaza conflict while campaigning for re-election at home ahead of an October 27 vote.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
On Thursday, Netanyahu delivered a combative address inside the General Assembly, where dozens of delegations walked out as he began speaking.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The departing diplomats left large sections of the hall empty, creating a striking contrast with Netanyahu\u2019s attempt to use the podium to present Israel\u2019s case before the international community.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Netanyahu responded by accusing his critics of hypocrisy and calling them \u201cmoral cowards.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He rejected allegations that Israel had committed genocide in Gaza, saying Israel had prevented rather than committed genocide. He defended the country\u2019s military actions in Gaza and elsewhere in the region.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Delegates walk out of the General Assembly hall as Israel\u2019s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu arrives to address the 81st United Nations General Assembly at UN headquarters in New York City, US, September 24. \u2014 Reuters
He also devoted a significant part of his speech to New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani, calling him \u201cthe antisemitic mayor of New York\u201d and accusing him of spreading what Netanyahu described as lies about Israel.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Mamdani, who had declined to join the street protests, responded after the speech.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cPrime Minister Netanyahu used his speech to repeat baseless lies meant to sanitise his genocide of Palestinians,\u201d Mamdani said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cNo lie can change the fact that he remains the subject of an International Criminal Court arrest warrant alleging war crimes and crimes against humanity.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Mamdani previously said New York City lacked the authority to enforce the ICC warrant against Netanyahu, arguing that the appropriate authorities should carry it out.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
On Wednesday night, the mayor had hosted Palestinian families from Gaza at Gracie Mansion and planted an olive tree with them, saying: \u201cMay peace be our future.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The two scenes \u2014 protesters confronting his government\u2019s policies on the streets and diplomats leaving the hall during his address \u2014 turned Netanyahu\u2019s brief visit to New York into a day of parallel confrontation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Netanyahu\u2019s stay had already been sharply shortened amid security concerns and expectations of protests. He arrived on Thursday morning, addressed the General Assembly and was scheduled to return to Israel the same evening rather than remain in New York overnight.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Outside the UN, Jewish and Muslim activists, Palestinian supporters, human-rights campaigners, progressive Jewish groups, politicians, artists and musicians took part in separate demonstrations across Manhattan. Their messages varied, but opposition to Netanyahu\u2019s government and Israel\u2019s conduct of the Gaza war brought many of them into the streets at the same time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Demonstrators protest after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu\u2019s address to the United Nations 81st General Assembly in New York City, U.S., September 24. \u2014 Reuters
The protests also offered a visible glimpse of a generational shift in American attitudes toward Israel and Netanyahu. While support for Israel remains stronger among older Americans, younger Americans have become substantially more critical of the Israeli government.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A Pew Research Centre survey conducted in May found that only 18 per cent of Americans aged 18 to 29 had a favourable view of the Israeli government, compared with 47pc among those aged 65 and older. Among the youngest Americans, 58pc expressed a favourable view of Palestinians, compared with 47pc among those 65 and older.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
That generational divide was visible on the streets of New York, where many of the demonstrators were young people, including students, activists, artists and younger politicians.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The largest direct action outside the UN was organised by Jewish Voice for Peace, whose New York chapter brought hundreds of protesters to First Avenue and 39th Street. Demonstrators wearing matching white T-shirts sat in the roadway, chanting against Netanyahu and calling for an end to US support for Israel.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
For a while, protesters stood and sat in the street, linking arms and blocking traffic as police moved in to clear the roadway. The chants continued as officers began making arrests.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
At least 30 people, including actors and politicians, were arrested in the initial action. Police later said more than 100 protesters had been taken into custody.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Among those detained were actors Susan Sarandon and Hannah Einbinder, congressional candidate Darializa Avila Chevalier and City Council member Chi Oss\u00e9. Musicians Julien Baker and Lucy Dacus and actor Elliott Page were also among the prominent figures taking part in the protests.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Chelsea Manning, who joined the protest, said people outside government institutions needed ways to reject policies they regarded as imperialism, ethnic cleansing and genocide.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWe can\u2019t be in there. This is the closest that we can get,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Manijeh Moradian, a university professor of Iranian and Jewish heritage who participated in the demonstration, said protesters had a responsibility to speak out against what was happening in Gaza with US support.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Jewish groups divided
The demonstrations also highlighted divisions within New York\u2019s Jewish community.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Progressive Jewish organisations, including New York Jewish Agenda, T\u2019ruah, J Street, New Jewish Narrative, New Israel Fund and Partners for Progressive Israel, held a separate protest at Dag Hammarskj\u00f6ld Plaza near the UN.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWe are gathered here as American Jews, Israelis, New Yorkers, to say: You are not welcome here,\u201d said Margo Hughes-Robinson, executive director of New York Jewish Agenda.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
T\u2019ruah, a rabbinic human-rights organisation, called for a ceasefire and accountability for alleged war crimes. The organisers described their rally as an alternative for Jewish New Yorkers who opposed Netanyahu\u2019s policies while retaining concern for Israel and Jewish security.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
They were confronted by pro-Netanyahu counter-protesters who blew whistles, used megaphones, chanted \u201cBibi\u201d, and sang Israel\u2019s national anthem.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
On the other side, the ultra-Orthodox anti-Zionist group Neturei Karta also demonstrated, arguing that opposition to Israel could not automatically be equated with antisemitism.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Elsewhere, Jewish and Muslim demonstrators marched together towards the UN, while Palestinian activists and other organisations joined the broader mobilisation against Netanyahu.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A city divided over Israel and Gaza
As police loaded detained protesters onto buses outside the UN, Netanyahu was speaking inside a building protected by heavy security. Outside, demonstrators sought to challenge the Israeli prime minister\u2019s account of the Gaza war; inside, diplomats expressed their opposition by leaving the chamber.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The contrast was difficult to miss.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
For several hours on Thursday, New York\u2019s streets and the UN General Assembly hall became parallel stages for the same international argument \u2014 one expressed through demonstrations and arrests outside, the other through a diplomatic boycott inside.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And beneath both scenes was a changing American debate over Israel.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
NEW YORK(National Times)- Dozens of delegates walked out of the UN General Assembly hall on Thursday as hundreds of protesters gathered outside the building while Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu defended Tel Aviv\u2019s actions amid growing international isolation, with elections looming that could threaten his political future. The walkout undersco\u00adred the competing pressu\u00adres facing Netanyahu, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":133754,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-133753","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-latest_news","entry"],"yoast_head":"\n