Politics
Netanyahu held up a pager at the UN General Assembly — similar to the explosive devices Israel used in 2024 that killed 12 including two children. More than 70 countries walked out. The US denied Palestinian President Abbas a visa to attend. Netanyahu called the walkout delegates moral cowards.
NewsOnScale Staff
September 25, 2026
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu addressed the United Nations General Assembly on Thursday September 24 before a hall that was largely empty. More than 70 countries walked out as he took the podium — responding to a Palestinian mission request that delegations collectively leave to send a clear message about Gaza and Israel's military conduct.
Netanyahu called the delegates who walked out moral cowards and delivered a speech full of props, taunts, and confrontation.
The Pager
Netanyahu held up a pager at the podium — a device similar to the explosive-laden pagers Israel remotely detonated on September 17 2024 across Lebanon. That operation killed 12 people including two children and wounded more than 3,000 — the majority of them Hezbollah members but including civilians caught in proximity to the blasts.
Remember the beepers? Remember these things? Remember them? Netanyahu said. Well, I can tell you this, Hezbollah certainly remembers them.
Standing at the United Nations — an institution whose fact-finding missions have found Israeli conduct in Gaza and Lebanon to constitute war crimes — Netanyahu held up a device used in an operation that killed children as a prop to generate applause.
The Starlink Terminal
Netanyahu also held up a Starlink satellite internet terminal and directed his remarks at the Iranian delegation — telling them that when they inevitably defect they would be able to use it to freely tell their story on social media.
The Iranian representative did not accept the terminal.
What Netanyahu Said
Netanyahu said attacking Iran was one of the easiest decisions he had ever made. He thanked President Trump for taking decisive action against Iran. He called Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan a tyrant. He accused Qatar of trying to brainwash young Americans. He predicted Iran's government would eventually fall.
On October 7 2023 he said the Hamas attack was proportionately equal to 40,000 innocent Americans slaughtered in less than 24 hours — or 16 times the death count of the September 11 attacks.
He did not address the UN Independent International Fact-Finding Mission's September 17 2026 finding that the United States committed war crimes in two February strikes — one on a primary school in Minab and one on a women's volleyball facility in Lamerd where 21 people were killed including four children.
The Walkout
The Palestinian Mission to the UN had sent a message to many of the 193 UN member nations urging them to bring as many staff as possible to the assembly hall and collectively walk out once the Israeli prime minister was announced.
More than 70 countries complied. The hall Netanyahu spoke to was largely empty.
The Palestinian mission's message said the walkout would send a clear message that no one is willing to aid abet or be complicit in what it described as genocide and war crimes.
Netanyahu called those who walked out moral cowards and said they were on the wrong side of history.
The Absent Palestinian President
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas did not attend in person. The United States denied him a visa to enter the country to address the General Assembly.
Abbas delivered remarks anyway — by video. He said we will not leave our homeland, we will not accept displacement, and we will not allow anyone to decide our future on our behalf.
He asked the international community: how long will some countries continue to remain silent about Israel or continue supplying it with weapons that it uses against our people?
The United States approved a $2.8 billion arms package to Israel on an emergency basis this month — bypassing standard congressional review.
The Context
Netanyahu addressed the UN General Assembly facing an International Criminal Court arrest warrant for alleged war crimes. He addressed it while Israeli elections loom domestically — analysts described the speech as aimed primarily at Israeli voters rather than the international community.
He addressed it one week after the UN Independent International Fact-Finding Mission found that the United States committed war crimes in Iran — strikes Netanyahu said were one of the easiest decisions he ever made to support.
He held up a pager that killed children at the United Nations and called the countries that refused to watch moral cowards.
DISCLOSURE: NewsOnScale is an independent media publication owned and operated by AMILLI AI CORP. JJ Johnson is the founder of AMILLI AI CORP and a declared candidate for President of the United States in 2028. All facts in this article are drawn from PBS NewsHour, NBC News, BBC News, Al Jazeera, RT, and RTE reporting published September 24-25 2026.