Delegations walk out as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu addresses the 80th United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) at UN headquarters in New York City, US, Sept. 26, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Shannon Stapleton

Dozens of United Nations delegates staged a massive walkout in protest of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s speech before the UN General Assembly on Friday, underscoring what many observers have long described as the international body’s bias against the Jewish state. 

Delegates’ rejection of Netanyahu stood in sharp contrast to the warm reception Palestinian Authority (PA) President Mahmoud Abbas received in his virtual address on Thursday.

Most of the crowd had been nearly emptied by the time Netanyahu began his speech. 

During his remarks, Netanyahu condemned Western nations for recognizing Palestinian statehood and vowed to continue the war in Gaza until the Hamas terrorist group is completely dismantled. 

“We’re not done yet,” Netanyahu said. “The final elements, the final remnants of Hamas, are holed up in Gaza City. They vow to repeat the atrocities of Oct. 7 again and again and again, no matter how diminished their forces. That is why Israel must finish the job. That is why we want to do so as fast as possible.”

“Free the hostages now! If you do, you will live. If you don’t, Israel will hunt you down,” he added, referring to those still being held in captivity in Gaza who were kidnapped during Hamas’s Oct. 7, 2023, invasion of and massacre across southern Israel.

France, the UK, Canada, Portugal, Australia, and a few other countries formally recognized a “State of Palestine” over the past week, breaking with decades of Western diplomatic hesitation and signaling deepening frustration with Israel’s war against Hamas in Gaza. 

Netanyahu’s comments regarding the recognition of Palestinian statehood echo those of several high-profile US officials, including Secretary of State Marco Rubio. Rubio has lambasted the declarations as “reckless.”

During Abbas’s speech, the Palestinian leader falsely accused Israel of committing a “genocide” in Gaza and claimed that the PA should be handed control of the Gaza Strip. He also argued that “Palestine” should be granted “full membership” within the UN.

“Palestine is ours. Jerusalem is the jewel of our hearts and our eternal capital. We will not leave our homeland. We will not leave our lands,” Abbas said.

The PA, which has long been riddled with accusations of corruption, has also maintained for years a so-called “pay-for-slay” program, which rewards terrorists and their families for carrying out attacks against Israelis. Under the policy, the PA makes official payments to Palestinian prisoners held in Israeli jails, the families of “martyrs” killed in attacks on Israelis, and injured Palestinian terrorists. Reports estimate that approximately 8 percent of the PA’s budget has been allocated to paying stipends to convicted terrorists and their families.

A poll released earlier this year by the Palestinian Center for Policy and Survey Research (PCPSR) found that, if an agreement is reached to end the Gaza war, only 40 percent of Palestinians (46 percent in Gaza and 37 percent in the West Bank, where the PA exercises limited self-governance) “support the return of the PA to managing the affairs of the Gaza Strip and providing for the requirements of daily life and responsibility for reconstruction,” while 56 percent oppose it. The poll also showed that, among the Palestinian people in both Gaza and the West Bank, just 23 percent are “satisfied” with the PA’s performance, while an even smaller 15 percent expressed satisfaction with Abbas and a mere 24 percent did so for Abbas’s ruling Fatah party.