Mr. President, families of our beloved hostages who are languishing in the jails of Gaza, ladies and gentlemen.

Last year, I stood at this podium and showed you this map. This map represents the curse of Iran’s terrorists, the axis of terrorism that threatens the peace of the entire world, that threatens the stability of our region, that threatens the very existence of my country, Israel. Iran was rapidly developing a massive nuclear weapons program, a massive ballistic missile program that aimed not only to destroy Israel, but also to threaten the United States, to hold nations everywhere hostage, to blackmail them. Yahya Sinwar, from Gaza, launched waves of Hamas terrorists who penetrated Israel on October 7, who committed acts of unspeakable savagery.

From Lebanon, Hassan Nasrallah fired thousands of rockets toward our cities, terrorizing our citizens. In Syria, the bloodthirsty dictator Assad tightened the noose of death around our necks. In Yemen, the Houthis launched ballistic missiles toward Israel, while stifling trade in the Red Sea.

What happened this year? We smashed the Houthis just yesterday. We suppressed the Hamas terror machine. We decimated most of Hezbollah’s leadership, destroyed most of its arsenal — don’t forget last year’s pagers. Believe me, Hezbollah got the message. Thousands of terrorists have fallen. We destroyed Assad’s weapons in Syria, deterred Shiite militias in Iraq, and, most importantly, beyond anything I could tell you about what we’ve done over the past year, over the past decade, we’ve devastated Iran’s ballistic missile and nuclear weapons programs.

This is where we are today (Benyamin Netanyahu is holding a map, editor’s note). Half of the Houthi leadership in Yemen is gone, wiped off the map. Yahya Sinwar in Gaza is wiped off the map. Hassan Nasrallah in Lebanon is wiped off the map. The Assad regime in Syria is finished. The militias in Iraq, their leaders, if they tried to attack Israel, would disappear in the same way. As for the Iranian military leaders and their nuclear scientists, they too have been wiped off the map.

Israel’s Twelve-Day War against Iran — Operation Lion Awakening, a quote from the Bible — this Twelve-Day War will go down in the annals of military history. Our pilots neutralized Iranian defenses and took control of the skies over Tehran. As you saw, Israeli jets and American B-2s bombed nuclear enrichment sites. I thank President Trump for his determined and bold action.

President Trump and I, President Trump and I, promised to prevent Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons, and we have kept that promise. We have removed this existential threat to Israel, a threat to the civilized world. We have removed this cloud of darkness that could have cost thousands, thousands of lives. But, ladies and gentlemen, we must remain vigilant. We must remain very clear and vigilant. Let us not allow Iran to rebuild its nuclear capabilities, its stockpile of enriched uranium. Those stockpiles must be eliminated, and tomorrow, the Security Council sanctions on Iran must be reinstated.

Thanks to the determination of our people, thanks to the courage of our soldiers, thanks to the bold decisions we made, Israel has bounced back, emerged from the darkness to deliver one of the most forceful military blows in its history.

But we are not finished. The remnants of Hamas remain in Gaza City. They have vowed to repeat the atrocities of October 7, again and again and again. It does not matter that their strength has been diminished. This is why Israel must finish the job. This is why we must and want to do it. As quickly as possible.

Ladies and gentlemen. Much of the world no longer remembers October 7, but we do. Israel remembers October 7. That day… You will also remember October 7, right? You see what I’m carrying, it’s a QR code. What I’m going to ask you to do is take your phones, zoom in, and see through this QR code why we’re fighting, why we must win.

It’s all there. On October 7, Hamas carried out the worst attack on Jews since the Holocaust. They slaughtered 1,200 innocent people, including more than 40 Americans, citizens of dozens of countries represented here. They beheaded men, they raped women, they burned babies alive, they burned babies alive in front of their parents. And what monster can do that? These monsters took more than 250 people, 250 hostages, including Holocaust survivors, grandmothers, grandmothers and their grandchildren. Who takes grandmothers and grandchildren hostage? Who? Hamas. To date, we have brought 207 hostages home, but 48 of them still remain in Hamas dungeons. 20 are still alive, starving, tortured. Deprived of daylight, deprived of all humanity.

These are the names of the 20 hostages still alive. Matan Angrest, Gali and Ziv Berman, brothers, Elkana Bohbot, Rom Braslavski, Nimrod Cohen, Ariel and David Cunio, other brothers, Guy Gilboa-Dalal, Evyatar David. You saw his photo, emaciated, forced to dig his own grave. Maxim Herkin, Eitan Horn, Segev Kalfon, Bar Kupershtein, Omri Miran, Eitan Mor, Yosef-Haim Ohana, Alon Ohel, Avinatan Or and Matan Zangauker.

Ladies and gentlemen, I would like to do something I have never done. I would like to address these hostages directly through megaphones. I have surrounded Gaza with megaphones connected to this microphone in the hope that our hostages will hear my message. I will begin by saying it in Hebrew, then in English:

“Our brave heroes. This is Prime Minister Netanyahu speaking to you live from the UN. We have not forgotten you. Not for a second. The people of Israel stand with you. We will not fail. We will not rest until you all come home.”

Ladies and gentlemen, thanks to the efforts of Israeli intelligence, my words are also being broadcast by cell phone in Gaza. To the rest of the Hamas leadership, to the jailers of our hostages, I would like to say: “Lay down your weapons, let our fellow citizens go, free the hostages, every last one of them, all 48 of them, free the hostages, now. If you let them go, you will live. If you don’t, Israel will drive you out.”

Ladies and gentlemen, if the masses accept our demands, the war can end today. Gaza will be demilitarized. Israel will retain security control in the area, and peaceful civil authority can be established by Gazans and others committed to peace with Israel. Of course, you will understand that the war in Gaza affects every Israeli. But I am sure that some people in New York, London, Melbourne, and elsewhere are probably saying, “But what does any of this have to do with me?” The answer is “everything.” “Everything” that is happening concerns you because our enemies are your enemies.

Let’s do something else, for the first time at the UN. A little quiz. Raise your hand if you know the answer to the following questions. First question: Who is shouting Death to America? A, Iran, B, Hamas, C, Hezbollah, D, the Houthis, or E, all of them? E, correct. Second question: Who has murdered Americans and Europeans in cold blood? A, Al-Qaeda, B, Hamas, C, Hezbollah, D, Iran, or E, all of them? That’s correct again, Little E.

This is the message I want to convey to you. Our enemies hate us all with the same bile. They want to plunge the modern world into an era of violence, darkness, fanaticism, and terror. I believe that, within your own societies, you are already feeling the rise of radical Islamism. You know it deep down: Israel, Israel is fighting your battle.

So I’d like to tell you a secret: Behind closed doors, many of the leaders who publicly condemn us thank us privately. They tell me how much they appreciate Israel’s remarkable intelligence services, which, time and again, have thwarted terrorist attacks in their capitals, which, time and again, have saved countless lives. General George Keegan, head of U.S. Air Force Intelligence, said, “If the United States alone had gathered all the intelligence Israel provides us, we would have had to create five CIAs.” Five CIAs. Last June, when Israel struck Iran’s nuclear facilities, the Chancellor of Germany acknowledged the truth. He said, “Israel does the dirty work for all of us.”

President Trump understands better than anyone that Israel and America face a common threat. He has shown the world that when Iran and its proxies murder Americans, take Americans hostage, wave and burn flags, try to assassinate the President of the United States, not once, but twice… Well, he has shown them that they must pay the price.

Unfortunately, many of the leaders represented in this room are sending a very different message. Of course, in the immediate aftermath of October 7, many of them supported Israel, but that support quickly evaporated when Israel did what any self-respecting nation would do in the wake of such a savage attack.

More than 3/4 of the diplomats left the General Assembly Hall during his speech.

We fought. Imagine for a moment an attack on America, like the attack that targeted Israel on October 7. Imagine that a terrorist regime sends thousands of terrorists to invade the United States. They massacre 40,000 Americans, they take 10,000 Americans hostage. What do you think America would have done? Do you think it would have left the regime in place? No, not possible. Impossible. The United States would have razed that regime. They would have made it disappear so that America could never again be threatened by that barbarity. That’s exactly what Israel is doing in Gaza. We’re eliminating those Hamas terrorists so that Israel would never again be threatened by that type of savagery. That’s exactly what we’re doing. That’s exactly what any self-respecting government would do.

And yet. I’m sorry to say it. And yet, over time, many of this world’s leaders have backed down, buckled under pressure from the media, radical Islamists, and anti-Semitic mobs. There’s a saying: when the going gets tough, that’s when people reveal themselves. Here, when the going got tough, well, you buckled. And what’s the result? For two years, Israel has had to wage a seven-front war against barbarism. With many of your nations opposing us. It’s incredible! While we fight against these terrorists who have killed many citizens of your countries, you condemn us, you fight us, you launch political and legal wars against my country. To the representatives of these nations, I would like to say here: this is not about indicting Israel. You should be indicted, you weak leaders, who do not support a nation whose brave soldiers protect you from the barbarians at your doorstep.

But when will you learn that you cannot, with appeasement, escape jihad? You cannot do so in the face of this storm against Israel. To weather this storm, you must stand with Israel. But that is not what you are doing. As the prophets said in the Bible, you have turned good into evil and evil into good.

I’d like to focus on this for a moment. Take these false accusations of genocide. Israel is accused of deliberately targeting civilians. Ladies and gentlemen, the exact opposite is true. The leaders of urban warfare studies, Colonel Johnson, who is perhaps the most prominent expert on urban warfare, said, “Israel takes more measures to minimize civilian casualties than any other army in history.” And it is precisely because we do this that the combatant-noncombatant casualty ratio is less than two to one in Gaza. A remarkably low ratio, lower than NATO’s in Afghanistan and elsewhere. Especially when you consider the fact that Gaza is the most densely populated area on Earth. Hundreds of thousands of terror tunnels have been dug. And then you also have buildings where thousands of terrorists are hiding in these tunnels, in these buildings, in civilian areas.

If you want to know what measures Israel is taking to prevent civilian casualties, consider what we are doing now, right now in Gaza City, Hamas’s last stronghold. For three weeks, Israel has been dropping little paper messages, sending text messages, and appealing to civilians to leave Gaza City before the army arrives. At the same time, Hamas is hiding in mosques, schools, hospitals, and apartment buildings, trying to force civilians not to leave, to stay where they are in danger. And very often, they threaten them with their guns if they try to leave. For Israel, every civilian casualty is a tragedy. For Hamas, it is a strategy. Hamas is using civilians as human shields to wage its sick propaganda war against Israel. A propaganda war that the Western media propagates. Despite Hamas’ threats, nearly 700,000 Gazans, almost three-quarters of a million, have already heeded our call and moved to safe areas.

I would like to ask you a very simple question. A logical, very simple question: would a country that commits genocide, that supposedly targets the civilian population, say to these civilians before attacking: “Leave the area”? No, we try to get them out of the way before attacking, while Hamas tries to make them stay. Comparing the situation to genocide is ridiculous. Did the Nazis ask the Jews to leave the area? Do you want me to remind you of all those genocidal leaders in history? Did anyone tell the population, before attacking them, to leave the area? No, of course not. So we’re standing on our heads here.

Hamas, a genocidal terrorist organization whose charter calls for the murder of every Jewish person on the planet, does as it pleases. While Israel, which does everything it can to protect civilians, is singled out. What a joke!

Do you want to hear another one? Israel is accused of deliberately starving the people of Gaza while Israel deliberately feeds the people of Gaza. Since the beginning of the war, Israel has let more than 2 million tons of food and aid into Gaza. One ton of aid for every man, woman, and child in Gaza. 3,000 calories per person per day. You’re talking about a policy of starvation. If Gazans don’t have enough to eat, it’s because Hamas steals the food, Hamas steals the food and sells it at exorbitant prices to fuel its war machine. Last month, even the UN, not exactly Israel’s biggest supporter — this is where you’re supposed to laugh, right? — last month, even the UN admitted that Hamas and other armed groups had looted 85% of the trucks. This is why people are deprived of food.

Those who brandish the issue of genocide and famine against Israel are no better than those who falsely accused Israel of poisoning wells and using children’s blood to cook in the past. Anti-Semitism dies hard. It never goes away. It returns, again and again, with its lies, regurgitated and vomited over and over again.

Another thing is, these anti-Semitic lies have consequences. In recent months, Jews have been attacked in Canada, Australia, Great Britain, France, the Netherlands, and elsewhere. Here in the United States, an elderly Holocaust survivor was burned at the stake in Colorado. A couple from the Israeli Embassy in Washington were brutally gunned down outside the Holocaust Museum.

Fortunately, President Trump’s administration is vigorously combating this scourge of anti-Semitism. And every government in this room should follow suit. Instead, many are doing the opposite and rewarding, rewarding, the worst anti-Semites. This week, the leaders of France, Great Britain, Australia, Canada, and other countries unconditionally recognized the State of Palestine.

They did so after the horrors committed by Hamas on October 7. Horrors that were welcomed that day by nearly 90% of the Palestinian population. I would like to repeat what I just said: nearly 90% of Palestinians supported the attacks of October 7. They even celebrated them, welcomed them, dancing in the streets. Both in Gaza and in Judea and Samaria.

They also celebrated other horrors, like September 11, because they danced, sang, and threw candy to children.

Do you know what message the leaders who recognized the State of Palestine are sending? The message is clear: Murdering Jews works and pays. Well, I have a message for those leaders: When the most savage terrorists imaginable applaud your decisions, you have not done the right thing. You have done something wrong, something terribly wrong. Your shameful decision will encourage terrorism against Jews, against innocent people, everywhere. That will be the mark of shame on each and every one of you.

“But wait a moment, Mr. Prime Minister,” they say to me. “Wait! We believe in the two-state solution where the Jewish State of Israel can live side by side in peace with the State of Palestine.” But there’s a problem there. The Palestinians don’t believe in that solution. They’ve never believed in that solution; they don’t want a state alongside Israel. They want a State of Palestine instead of a State of Israel. That’s why, every time we offer them a State of Palestine and ask them to end the conflict with Israel, to recognize the Jewish State, every time, over the decades, they’ve refused. That’s why, every time we’ve given them territory, they’ve used it to attack us.

In fact, they had a State of Palestine in Gaza. And what did they do with it? Did they make peace? Did they coexist? No. They attacked us again and again. Without any provocation. They fired rockets into our cities, murdered our children, and turned Gaza into a base for terrorists from which the October 7 massacre was committed. This is an inconvenient truth. The persistent rejection by Palestinians of a Jewish state in any form is what has caused this conflict to continue over the years. It is not the absence of a State of Palestine; it is the presence, the very existence of a Jewish state.

And frankly, I am amazed to see that foreign governments, ministries, all those who pontificate, all these leaders, how can they not understand this truism that is repeated again and again?

I’d like to tell you something else. This rejection of a Jewish state concerns not only Hamas, but also the so-called moderates in the Palestinian Authority. You should know that the Palestinian Authority pays terrorists to massacre Jews. The more they massacre, the more the Palestinian Authority pays them. The Palestinian Authority names its government buildings, its schools, its public squares, names them after the murderers of Jews who are considered martyrs and glorified. They pay. They glorify the murders of Jews, the murders of Christians too. Like that American veteran, Taylor Force, who was brutally murdered in Israel by Palestinian terrorists.

But, but, but, but another but, and I hear it from Western leaders. They say to me: “But the Palestinian Authority promised us it would reform. Yes, I know, Mr. Prime Minister, this time things are going to be different.”

Yes, that’s it. We’ve been hearing these promises for decades. They promise all the time. They never follow through. Because, you see, the Palestinian Authority is corrupt to the core. They haven’t held elections in 20 years. They use the same books, the same refrains as Hamas. They teach their children to hate Jews, to destroy the Jewish state. And the lot of Christians isn’t much better. When Bethlehem, the cradle of Christianity, was under Israeli control, 80% of the residents were Christian. Since the Palestinian Authority took over, that’s down to less than 20%.

These are the people you’re giving to, you want to give a state. What you’re doing is rewarding intolerance, fanaticism, the murderers of the October 7 massacre. Giving the Palestinians a state a mile from Jerusalem after October 7 is like giving al-Qaeda a state a mile from New York City after 9/11. It’s totally insane. We will never accept it.

I would like to send another message to Western leaders. Israel will not allow you to force a terrorist state down our throats. We will not commit national suicide because you lack the courage to confront a hostile media and those anti-Semitic masses demanding Israel’s blood. I would also like you to understand something else, a skewed truth in the media. And I say this not only on my own behalf, on behalf of my government, but on behalf of the entire population of Israel. Last year, a vote was held in the Knesset, our parliament, on whether or not to oppose the imposition of a Palestinian state. Do you know what the results were? Of 120 members of our parliament, 99 voted against and nine in favor. More than 90 percent, this is not a small group, it is not just the prime minister who is an extremist or held hostage by right-wing extremists. More than 90% of Israelis agree. My opposition to a Palestinian state is not simply a result of my policies or the policies of my government. It is the result of our state policy, of what the Israeli people want.

Western leaders may have buckled under pressure, and I guarantee you one thing: Israel will not buckle. Israel’s victories. Thank you, I know you agree with me. Israel’s victories against the Iranian axis of terrorism have opened up possibilities for peace. Possibilities that were unthinkable two years ago. Take Syria for decades. The very idea of ​​peace between Israel and Syria seemed unimaginable. That is no longer the case. We have entered into serious negotiations with the new Syrian government. I believe that an agreement can be reached that respects Syria’s sovereignty and protects Israel’s security and the security of minorities in the region, including Jews.

Since the creation of Israel, the Jews, the Druze, have been brothers and sisters. We fought together, we bled together. We built our lives together. When I was a young member of the Israeli Special Forces, my own life was saved by the invaluable advice given by Salim Soufi, a friend, a veteran, a Druze. And that is why I could not stand by. Israel cannot stand by while the Druze are murdered by jihadists. So I instructed our forces to put an end to these massacres, which they quickly did.

Peace between Israel and Lebanon is also possible. I call on the Lebanese government to also enter into direct negotiations with Israel. I have congratulated those who have affirmed their willingness to disarm Hezbollah. But we need to move from words to action. If Lebanon truly wants to act to disarm Hezbollah, I am confident we can make peace. A lasting peace. But until then, we will take all necessary measures to defend ourselves and to maintain the ceasefire in Lebanon.

Our goal is not simply to control Hezbollah’s actions, but to prevent Hezbollah from violating the ceasefire and attacking us. But I am certain of one thing: if the Lebanese government persists in its efforts to disarm Hezbollah, peace will be restored quickly and easily. Victory over Hezbollah brought peace to our two Arab neighbors to the north. Victory over Hamas will bring peace to nations throughout the Arab and Muslim world. Our victory will lead to a dramatic expansion of the historic Abraham Accords that President Trump and I reached with Arab leaders five years ago.

I have noted, as I am sure you have, the encouraging words spoken here by the President of Indonesia, the country with the largest Muslim community of any nation. It is also a sign of what may come. Forward-looking Arabs and Muslims know that cooperating with Israel will provide them with cutting-edge technologies in medicine, science, agriculture, water, defense, AI, and so many other areas.

I believe that in the years ahead, the Middle East will be completely different from what it is. Many of those waging war on Israel today will be gone tomorrow. Courageous peacemakers will have replaced them, and this will be especially true in Iran. The Iranian people, who have suffered far too much, will regain their freedom and make Iran great again. Our ancestral peoples. Our two peoples. The people of Israel, the people of Iran, will regain that friendship that will benefit the entire world.

Ladies and gentlemen, the horrors that occurred on October 7, that dark day, these horrors occurred again and again during the centuries the nation was in exile. Jewish blood was worth little. Jews were slaughtered with impunity, and we had to beg other countries to defend us. Israel’s awakening did not mean that the attempts to wipe us out disappeared. It meant that we could fight back against those attempts. And that is exactly what Israel has done and continues to do since October 7. Our sons and daughters are fighting like lions. Our courageous soldiers put on their uniforms and rushed into Gaza. Driven by this dream of living as a free people in the land of Israel, our beloved land for over 3,000 years, they carried with them the dream of living in our own independent country, of having an army to defend ourselves. They carried the dream of remaining a beacon of progress, of innovation for the good of all humanity.

On October 7, Israel’s enemies tried to stifle that hope. Two years later, Israel’s resolve, Israel’s strength, are stronger than ever. With that resolve, that strength, we can achieve a swift victory and deliver a future of prosperity and peace. Thank you.