TODAY At UNGA: World Leaders Staged A Walkout During Netanyanhu’s Speech

TODAY At UNGA: World Leaders Staged A Walkout During Netanyanhu’s Speech

Scores of delegates today at the United Nations General Assembly ( UNGA) walked out in protest as the Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was about giving a speech.

Netanyahu addressed at the UNGA, signalled he saw no end in sight for the war in Gaza despite international condemnation.

Netanyahu also dismissed a UN commission’s findings that Israel has committed genocide in Gaza, saying the forced displacement of civilians undermined the assessment.

Ireland’s prime minister gave an impassioned rebuke of the war, calling on UN member states to fulfil commitments not to support further fighting.

China’s Li vowed renewed support for the UN, in a counterpoint to the US retreat from the organisation.

Former Israeli official says Netanyahu speech showed Israel’s increasing isolation.

The departure of many delegates when Netanyahu took the floor at the UNGA highlights the widening gap between Israel and the international community, says Alon Liel, a former director general of Israel’s Foreign Ministry.

“It was heartbreaking to see how isolated Israelis are internationally … it showed the huge gap between Israel and the rest of the world and between the Jewish world and the rest of the world. So it was a very difficult scene to watch,” Liel told Al Jazeera.

Liel opined that Netanyahu wanted to deliver the clear message that Israel is not interested in peace with the Palestinians.

“But this is the biggest mistake that he makes because the consensus today behind a Palestinian state is growing, and there is international determination behind it, so it is only stressing how far away we are from the international community,” he said.

Al-Jazeera