Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu stood defiant in the face of an international community from which he has become deeply isolated amid international condemnation of Israel’s war in Gaza and new escalations by the military in Lebanon.

Netanyahu opened his speech to the United Nations General Assembly in New York on Friday by saying he had not planned to attend, “but after hearing the lies and slanders of many speakers on this podium about my country, I decided to do so.” determined.” Come here and set the record straight.

In the cavernous hall, there were applause, cheers and boos from the public gallery, which included relatives of Israeli hostages who traveled there with Netanyahu. When the President of the General Assembly called order into the hall, groups of diplomats stood up and left the hall, leaving only a few listeners on the delegate floor.

He said the General Assembly had passed more resolutions against Israel in the last decade than against the rest of the world, and called the UN a “house of darkness” and a “swamp of anti-Semitic bile.”

During much of the speech, Netanyahu tried to rally opposition to Iran and its proxies by saying, “If you beat us, we will beat you.” There is no place in Iran that the long arm of Israel cannot reach, and that applies to the entire Middle East.”

“We will fight until we achieve total victory, there is no substitute for it,” Netanyahu said.

On Thursday, thousands of protesters gathered near the U.N. headquarters on First Avenue and throughout midtown Manhattan, holding signs that read “Bring the hostages home,” “End the war” and “Stop killing children.” . In response to Netanyahu’s name, they shouted “Shame! Shame! Shame!”

Some of the protest organizers called for Netanyahu’s arrest and accused the Israeli prime minister of being a war criminal.

Netanyahu had earlier struck a defiant tone after landing in New York, telling reporters on the airport tarmac that his government would “not stop” its fight against Hezbollah. The Iran-backed group has been at odds with Israel since Hamas’ Oct. 7 terror attacks that killed 1,200 people and took 251 people hostage in the Gaza Strip. More than 40,000 people were killed in Gaza in Israel’s subsequent war with Hamas.

The United States, France and other governments have moved to advance a 21-day ceasefire proposal in response to recent waves of air strikes and threats of a ground invasion aimed at repelling Hezbollah.

So far, more than 700 people have been killed and hundreds of thousands displaced in Lebanon.

About 60,000 people have been displaced from northern Israel by Hezbollah rocket and drone attacks since October 7. About 110,000 people had been displaced from southern Lebanon before the latest round of airstrikes that began on Monday. This week, hundreds of thousands more have been forced from their homes, an estimated 70,000 of them in official shelters. Others have fled to neighboring Syria or are staying in hotels or with family members.

The United Nations’ condemnations of Israel and its treatment of Palestinians in the war in Gaza and beyond have been clear and voiced regularly by the international body’s many branches.

Earlier this month, the General Assembly overwhelmingly passed a historic, if symbolic, resolution calling for Israel’s withdrawal from the Palestinian territories within a year. At an emergency meeting in December, it called for an “immediate humanitarian ceasefire” and the release of all hostages, passing the resolution by a large majority. The resolutions, like all General Assembly resolutions, are non-binding and have been resolutely ignored by Israel.

The International Court of Justice, the United Nations’ top court, issued a landmark ruling in July calling Israeli settlements in the West Bank violators of international law. In May it ordered Israel to halt its attack on Rafah, prompting Israel in January to do everything in its power to prevent genocide in Gaza. The ICJ has no power to enforce its rulings.

In March, Francesca Albanese, a U.N. Human Rights Council expert, declared that Israel was committing genocide in Gaza and released a report with details the council cited as supporting the accusation. Israel has repeatedly denied allegations of genocide in Gaza.

Netanyahu has regularly described the UN as anti-Israel, and Israel has fueled an increasingly combative relationship with the international body, including by accusing UNRWA, the UN agency for Palestinian refugees, of collaborating with Hamas.

U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres said that Netanyahu had not spoken to him since the war began and that his calls had gone unanswered and unanswered.

On Wednesday, after Israel began fresh waves of airstrikes on southern Lebanon, Guterres warned that “all hell is breaking loose in Lebanon” and that Security Council resolutions were being violated daily.

In Israel, the hostages’ families and their supporters have pressured Netanyahu – often protesting in the streets in thousands – to prioritize the release of the hostages over a ceasefire agreement rather than a military solution.