Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu dismissed allegations that Israel has committed genocide in Gaza as “the biggest lie of the century” during a defiant address to the U.N. General Assembly on Thursday, as scores of delegates walked out in protest. Israel didn't commit genocide.
Israel prevented genocide,” Netanyahu said, calling the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) “the most moral army in the world.” He pointed to Israel’s facilitation of food aid and polio vaccination campaigns in Gaza, saying “Israel did everything possible to get them out of harm's way.” Israel faces allegations of genocide in a case brought by South Africa before the International Court of Justice. The court has ordered Israel to take provisional measures under the Genocide Convention but has not ruled on whether Israel has committed genocide. The case remains pending.
In September 2025, an independent U.N. commission of inquiry concluded that Israel had committed genocide, and the International Association of Genocide Scholars said Israel’s policies and actions met the legal definition of the crime. Israel has rejected the findings. Netanyahu sharply criticized New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani during his speech, calling him “the antisemitic mayor of New York” and placing him among “all those spreading these lies about my country and about our brave soldiers.” “Mr.
Mamdani, since you were elected mayor of this city, many Jews no longer feel safe in New York,” Netanyahu said. He reiterated his claims that the mayor supports Hamas and has “incit[ed] riots against New York Jews.” Mamdani has denied supporting Hamas. Mamdani, you tried to stop me from coming here.
Well, you can’t silence me and you can’t silence the truth,” Netanyahu said. In response to Netanyahu’s remarks, Mamdani accused the Israeli leader of using his speech to “repeat baseless lies meant to sanitize his genocide of Palestinians.” “Yet no lie can change the fact that he remains the subject of an International Criminal Court arrest warrant alleging war crimes and crimes against humanity,” Mandani said in a statement. Netanyahu’s remarks come amid heightened concern about antisemitism in New York, where anti-Jewish incidents accounted for 57% of all reported hate crimes in 2025, according to NYPD data.
Mamdani has rejected accusations of antisemitism and proposed increasing the city’s hate-crime prevention budget from $3 million to $26 million. His administration has also maintained a dedicated Mayor’s Office to Combat Antisemitism. The dispute stretches back to Mamdani’s mayoral campaign.
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