# Netanyahu defends Israel as U.N. walkout erupts

> Israeli PM calls genocide allegations a lie while dozens of delegates leave in protest.
- Title: Netanyahu defends Israel as U.N. walkout erupts · TIME
- Summary: Israeli PM calls genocide allegations a lie while dozens of delegates leave in protest. Netanyahu dismissed genocide allegations at the U.N. as the biggest…
- Keywords: benjamin netanyahu, israel, gaza, genocide allegations, united nations, zohran mamdani, palestinian authority, mahmoud abbas, international court of justice, war crimes, Netanyahu, defends
- Source: TIME — https://time.com/article/2026/09/24/netanyahu-dismisses-gaza-genocide-allegations-as-dozens-of-u-n-delegates-walk-out
- Author: Connor Greene
- Published: 2026-09-24T21:45:53+00:00
- Read time: 2 min
- Topics: benjamin netanyahu, israel, gaza, genocide allegations, united nations, zohran mamdani, palestinian authority, mahmoud abbas, international court of justice, war crimes
## Netanyahu rejects genocide claim
Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu called genocide allegations against Israel the biggest lie of the century at the U.N. General Assembly on Thursday.

> Israel didn't commit genocide. Israel prevented genocide.
## Delegates walk out in protest
Scores of U.N. delegates walked out during Netanyahu's defiant address to the General Assembly.
## Israel faces genocide case
South Africa brought a genocide case against Israel at the International Court of Justice. The court ordered provisional measures but has not ruled on the allegations.
## U.N. commission found genocide
In September twenty twenty-five, a U.N. commission of inquiry concluded Israel committed genocide. The International Association of Genocide Scholars agreed.
## Netanyahu attacks New York mayor
Netanyahu called New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani antisemitic and accused him of spreading lies and supporting Hamas. Mamdani denied the claims.

> Mr. Mamdani, you tried to stop me from coming here. You tried to silence me. Well, you can't silence me and you can't silence the truth.
## Mamdani fires back at Netanyahu
Mayor Mamdani accused Netanyahu of using his speech to sanitize genocide and noted Netanyahu remains subject to an International Criminal Court arrest warrant.

> Yet no lie can change the fact that he remains the subject of an International Criminal Court arrest warrant alleging war crimes and crimes against humanity.
## Netanyahu praises Trump partnership
Netanyahu praised President Donald Trump as Israel's greatest partner and credited a joint U.S.-Israeli operation with destroying much of Iran's nuclear program.
## Abbas addresses U.N. by video
Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas delivered a prerecorded address after the U.S. denied him a visa for the second consecutive year.

> How much longer will some states continue to remain silent on Israel or supply it with the weapons that it uses against our people?
## Abbas calls for full U.N. membership
Abbas condemned the visa denial as unlawful punishment and called on the Trump administration to lift restrictions on his delegation and grant Palestine full U.N. membership.
## Death toll and reconstruction costs
More than seventy three thousand Palestinians have been killed since October twenty twenty-three. Gaza needs seventy billion dollars to reverse war damage.
## World leaders focus on Gaza
U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres said Gaza experienced killing and destruction unlike anything in his tenure. Trump claimed the war was over, but key peace elements remain stalled.
## Key takeaway

Netanyahu dismissed genocide allegations at the U.N. as the biggest lie of the century while scores of delegates walked out in protest.