As many as 77 delegations walked out of or stayed away from the United Nations General Assembly hall in New York on Thursday (24/9/2026) as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu stepped up to the podium, according to media reports. According to the Associated Press, most of the visible seats in the chamber sat empty after the mass exit.
An Instagram post by the activist group Global Intifada (gintifada_en) claimed that representatives of only 24 countries, including Israel, chose to remain in the hall during Netanyahu's speech. Its list named the United States, the United Kingdom, Germany, France, Italy, Canada, Australia, Japan, South Korea, India, Ukraine, Argentina, Paraguay, Serbia, Finland, Ethiopia, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Morocco, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, the Philippines and Thailand. The claim has not been confirmed by the UN or independent news agencies.
Reported numbers varied. SBS News and AFP-based reports counted 77 delegations, while Foreign Policy said more than 100 individual delegates left their seats. It was the second year in a row that Netanyahu faced a mass walkout at the annual gathering, underscoring Israel's deepening diplomatic isolation over the war in Gaza.
A Coordinated Protest
The walkout was organised in advance. The Palestinian Mission to the UN had messaged many of the 193 member states, urging them to bring as many staff as possible to the hall and walk out together as soon as Netanyahu was announced.
The message said the move would show that no one was willing to aid or be complicit in the war in Gaza, war crimes and illegal occupation. As Netanyahu approached the rostrum, cheers, boos and walkouts erupted at once, while the presiding officer called for order.
Netanyahu Hits Back at "Moral Cowards"
Netanyahu opened by taunting those who left. "If there are any other moral cowards who haven't left this hall, please do so now," he said.
He rejected genocide allegations over Gaza as "the biggest lie of the century," said attacking Iran was one of the easiest decisions he had ever made, and claimed many leaders whose delegations walked out privately thanked Israel.
He also attacked New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani, calling him antisemitic. Mamdani responded that Netanyahu remains the subject of an International Criminal Court arrest warrant over alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity. The speech came ahead of Israel's October 27 election, where Netanyahu faces a tight race.
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