Israeli officials have identified Liberia amongst dozens of countries that were absent or protested against the Jewish state, boycotting Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s speech at the UN.
According to Israeli officials, 77 delegations were either absent from the hall altogether or left at the start of Netanyahu’s remarks. Among them were all four of Israel’s immediate neighbors—Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, and Syria—as well as Saudi Arabia, Turkey, and Iran.
Officials noted, however, that not all absences were boycotts. In some cases, representatives simply did not attend the morning session in New York, where Netanyahu was the first scheduled speaker.
Speaking at the 81st United Nations General Assembly, the Israeli prime minister defended his country’s campaigns in Gaza, Iran and Lebanon, saying: “We’re going to win. We have no other choice.”
Despite a UN commission saying that Israel is committing a genocide in the Gaza Strip, Netanyahu denied this in his speech.
The walkout of the assembly hall was organised by a Palestinian representative who said that they wanted to “send a clear message to Netanyahu and his government that no one is willing to aid, abet, or be complicit in its genocide and war crimes and illegal occupation, which all peace-loving states and peoples demand must come to an end”.
In response to the walkout, Netanyahu said: “If there are any other moral cowards who haven’t left the hall, please do so now.”
Throughout his almost one-hour-long speech, Netanyahu took aim at the international media, regional leaders such as Turkey’s Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, the leftwing commentator Hasan Piker and the New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani.
He described Erdoğan as a “tyrant” who “hosts Hamas terrorists” and called Mamdani the “antisemitic mayor of New York”.
Speaking about Iran, the Israeli PM said: “Devastating Iran’s nuclear facilities was … very hard to do.
“But for me, it was one of the easiest decisions I’ve ever had to make as prime minister. Because if we hadn’t done it, we’d all be dead.”
He continued to refute global condemnation, saying: “So, to all those spreading these lies about my country and about our brave soldiers, whether they sit in this hall or in the office of the antisemitic mayor of New York, I say this: shame on you!”.
However, the mass walkout from delegates of a diverse range of nations from across the world, was a clear message to Israel and Netanyahu, that the global community may have seen enough.
Full list of nations that Walked out of Netanyahu’s speech
While the UN does not keep official record of which delegates walk out of speeches, Israeli officials have issued a list, which includes both those who left the hall and those who never turned up at all.
The list is as follows:
Suriname
Tuvalu
Turkmenistan
Yemen
Egypt
Panama
Senegal
Palestine
Sudan
Tunisia
Turkey
Venezuela
Antigua and Barbuda
Belize
Republic of the Congo
Oman
Qatar
Saudi Arabia
Tonga
Uzbekistan
Angola
Barbados
Colombia
Comoros
Dominica
Djibouti
North Macedonia
San Marino
South Africa
Somalia
Algeria
Bangladesh
Brunei Darussalam
Brazil
Chile
Democratic Republic of the Congo
Lebanon
Liberia
Eritrea
Chad
Central African Republic
Libya
Mauritania
Jordan
Nicaragua
Madagascar
Niger
Peru
Saint Lucia
Slovenia
Afghanistan
Bahamas
Bosnia and Herzegovina
Botswana
North Korea
Eswatini
Syria
Uganda
Pakistan
Lesotho
Bolivia
Spain
Cuba
Equatorial Guinea
Iran
Kyrgyzstan
Iraq
Mozambique
Myanmar
Ireland
Maldives
Indonesia
Kuwait
Namibia
Malaysia
Guyana
Kenya
