Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu struck a defiant tone Friday at the United Nations, telling diplomats and world leaders that his country will continue fighting for its right to exist even as he pushed for a wider peace in the Middle East.
Netanyahu, speaking at the U.N. General Assembly in New York as fears of a wider war between Israel and Hezbollah in Lebanon are mounting, decried the “curse” of Iran as he vowed to continue fighting back against Iranian aggression across the Middle East.
“If you strike us, we will strike you,” Netanyahu said. “There is no place in Iran that the long arm of Israel cannot reach, and that’s true of the entire Middle East. … We are winning.”
Netanyahu called for the world to stand up against the Iranian government and support regime change in Tehran, saying Iran represented a dire threat to the world.
Ahead of his speech, dozens of diplomats at the U.N. were seen walking out of the chamber in an apparent protest, according to videos shared on social media.
Several world leaders have sharply criticized Israel this week for its war against the Iranian-backed Palestinian militant group Hamas in Gaza, where more than 41,000 people have died in nearly a year of fighting.
Netanyahu said Friday that his forces have destroyed 23 out of 24 Hamas battalions but were focused on “mopping up” the remaining fighters, who stormed into Israel on Oct. 7 and killed more than 1,200 people while taking some 250 hostages, around 100 of whom are still in Gaza.
He also said Israel will reject any proposal that allows Hamas to maintain its presence in Gaza, but he did not offer any new remarks on bringing the hostages home and reaching a cease-fire and hostage release deal, with talks stalled since breaking down in August.
“All that has to happen is for Hamas to surrender, lay down its arms, and release all the hostages,” Netanyahu said. “But if they don’t, we will fight until we achieve victory.”
But looming over Netanyahu’s speech Friday is a potential war with the Iranian-backed Hezbollah, the Lebanese militant group that has been firing at Israel over the border for more than 11 months. Israel has taken increasingly aggressive action against the militant group in the past week, including a Monday strike that killed more than 500 people.
The U.S. and France led a proposal for a 21-day truce between Israel and Hezbollah that would also include talks for a more permanent peace, but Netanyahu later rejected it. The White House claimed that Israel was aware of the proposal before it was released.
Netanyahu said Friday that Hezbollah has fired more than 8,000 rockets toward Israel, displacing some 60,000 residents in the north at the border with Lebanon. He said Israel “has no choice” and “every right” to take on the threat from Hezbollah.
“Israel must also defeat Hezbollah in Lebanon,” he said. “Hezbollah is the quintessential terror organization in the world today.”
Netanyahu also pushed for a greater peace between Israel and Arab states, including Saudi Arabia, which is reportedly in talks with the U.S. and the Israeli government for a potential landmark normalization deal.
But Saudi Arabian Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman said this month he would only agree to a deal if Palestine becomes a state alongside Israel.
Netanyahu said in his U.N. speech that Israel wants to achieve a “historic peace agreement” with Saudi Arabia and advance normalization with Arab nations.
“What lessons such a peace with Saudi Arabia would bring,” he said. “It would be a boon to the security and economy of our two countries … it would help transform the Middle East into a global juggernaut.”
Netanyahu added that a peace agreement with Riyadh would “be a true pivot of history” and “usher in a historic reconciliation between the Arab world and Israel, between Islam and Judaism.”
