'National Suicide': Netanyahu Criticises Creation Of Palestinian State In UNGA Speech

Benjamin Netanyahu, the prime minister of Israel, called the creation of a Palestinian state, "national suicide," in his address to the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) in New York. Netanyahu's statement comes in light of the New York Declaration which laid out a two-state solution for the creation of a Palestinian state.

A majority of the UN delegates walked out of the halls as Netanyahu was getting prepped to deliver his speech.

The declaration took place at the 'UN High-Level International Conference on the Peaceful Settlement of the Question of Palestine and the Implementation of the Two-State Solution' co-chaired by France and Saudi Arabia.

It took place in two parts with the second held on Sept. 22, with many countries coming out in favour of Palestine's recognition as a state, including UK, France and Australia.

Netanyahu accused these countries of "shoving terror down Israel's throat. We will not allow this." He also compared setting up a Palestinian state a mile away from Jerusalem to setting up an Al Qaeda state a mile away from New York, citing the Oct. 7 attacks.

The Israeli prime minister claimed that the speech was being broadcasted from loud speakers on the Gaza border. According to CNN, his office called this a "public diplomacy effort."

Despite this, CNN reported that the families of hostages "slammed" Netanyahu's plans to set up speakers stating that his actions were not in favour of bringing the hostages back to their homes.

Ana Angrest, the mother of hostage Matan Angrest, wrote on X, "Netanyahu, my Matan and other hostages may hear you today. Any sentence other than ‘I came to the U.S. to sign a deal that brings you all home’ amounts to psychological abuse for them. Do not break their hope, if any still remains."

The ongoing conflict in Gaza was kickstarted after militant group Hamas' attack on Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, which led to the estimated death of 1,195 people and the capture of 251 people, according to the count shared by Israel.

The ensuing war claimed the lives of over 61,800 Palestinians, according to the Gaza Health Ministry. According to the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, 70% of the Palestinians killed in residential buildings were women and children.

According to a Guardian report, 83% of the casualties from the conflict were civilians in Gaza citing Israeli military intelligence data.

A United Nations commission of inquiry stated that Israel has committed genocide in Gaza. The International Criminal Court also issued arrest warrants for Netanyahu and Hamas military commander Mohammed Deif for crimes against humanity. Netanyahu denied genocide claims in his speech.

Netanyahu said that Israel would agree to end the war if Palestine demilitarises itself and said that the war would continue until Israeali forces eliminate Hamas completely.

“That is why Israel must finish the job. That is why we want to do so as fast as possible," he said.

He also claimed that the phones of Gaza residents were streaming his speech live due to Israeli intelligence's efforts.

Israel conducted airstrikes targeting Hamas leadership in Doha on Sept. 9, leaving six persons dead. The targeted persons were engaging in negotiations for a ceasefire to the Gaza war and a prisoner swap deal between Israel and Palestine, according to reports.

Netanyahu also held up a prop map that put red highlights on Iraq, Iran and Syria and labelled it a "terror axis" and recited a list of regional leaders that had been killed because they were deemed hostile to Israel.

The deceased included top leadership from several groups: Yahya Sinwar in Gaza, Hassan Nasrallah in Lebanon, "half the Houthi leaders" in Yemen, and Iran's senior military commanders and atomic scientists.