Netanyahu at UN: Israel 'must finish what it started', Iranian threat eliminated, but struggle continues

Translation. Region: Russian Federal

Source: United Nations – United Nations –

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September 26, 2025 UN

At the 80th session of the UN General Assembly, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu delivered a long and emotional speech that focused on the October 7 attacks, the military operation in Gaza, and a call for world leaders to maintain pressure on Iran and its allies.

Victory over the "axis of terror"

The Israeli prime minister said his country had dealt a crushing blow over the past year to groups linked to Tehran, from Hamas in Gaza and Hezbollah in Lebanon to the Houthis in Yemen and the regime of Bashar al-Assad in Syria.

"We have destroyed Iran's nuclear weapons and ballistic missile programs… We have removed the existential threat to Israel and the civilized world," Netanyahu said, thanking US President Donald Trump for his "decisive action" in the joint operation to destroy Iran's uranium enrichment facilities.

He stressed that Iran's enriched uranium stockpiles must be destroyed and Security Council sanctions against Tehran must be reinstated to prevent the restoration of its nuclear potential.

We remember October 7th

Netanyahu devoted much of his speech to the Hamas attack on Israel on October 7, 2023, calling it "the largest massacre of Jews since the Holocaust."

"1,200 people were killed, 40 Americans and citizens of dozens of countries. They chopped off heads, raped women, burned children alive… Hamas took more than 250 people hostage, including Holocaust survivors and their grandchildren," he said.

According to him, Israel has returned 107 hostages, but 48 remain in Gaza. The prime minister addressed them directly from the General Assembly podium in Hebrew and English, assuring them: "We will not give up and we will not give up until we bring you all home." Netanyahu said his speech at the General Assembly can be heard in Gaza today. The prime minister also added that Hamas leaders will receive his address on their mobile phones thanks to the efforts of Israeli intelligence.

Response to critics and accusations

The Israeli leader rejected accusations of genocide and deliberate starvation of Gazan civilians: "We have sent more than two million tons of food to Gaza—three thousand calories a day for every person. If people are starving, it's only because Hamas is stealing food and selling it to finance the war."

He emphasized that the Israeli military had warned civilians in advance of the offensive and was "doing everything to minimize civilian casualties, something no one has ever done in the history of urban warfare."

Against recognition of a Palestinian state

Netanyahu sharply criticized several Western countries for recognizing Palestinian statehood, saying the move "rewards terrorists" and only escalates violence.

"The Palestinians never believed in a two-state solution. They want a state not next to Israel, but instead of Israel," he said, adding that 99 of the 120 Knesset members voted against imposing a Palestinian state on Israel.

A chance for peace with neighbors

At the end of his speech, the prime minister noted that Israel's victory over Hamas and Iran's allies opens up prospects for peace negotiations with Syria and Lebanon and the expansion of the Abraham Accords with Arab countries.

"Our victory will mean that tomorrow many of those fighting against us will simply be gone, replaced by peacekeepers. This will happen in Iran too," he said.

Netanyahu's speech was accompanied by a QR code displaying footage of the October 7 attacks, and was met with thunderous applause from some delegations and demonstrative walking out of the hall by others.

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