Overview
- On Thursday, September 24, dozens of delegations staged a coordinated walkout called by the Palestinian mission, leaving large sections of the General Assembly chamber largely empty and forcing the session president to call for order.
- Benjamin Netanyahu responded from the podium by denouncing departing diplomats as “moral cowards,” defending Israel’s military actions, and saying his decision to strike Iran was “one of the easiest” of his tenure.
- After the speech, Israel’s UN ambassador, Danny Danon, attempted to hand a Starlink device to the Iranian representative and said it was refused, a symbolic gesture that underscored the sharp public confrontations in the hall.
- Hundreds protested outside the UN during the speech, and police detained about 100 people in New York, including Susan Sarandon and Hannah Einbinder, while Mayor Zohran Mamdani urged exploring ways to enforce the ICC arrest warrant but said federal authorities hold decisive power.
- The episode reinforced the Assembly's role as a platform for symbolic contest over legitimacy, highlighted legal and jurisdictional limits on enforcing international justice, and added a domestic political dimension ahead of Israel’s upcoming election.