Do we need more reasons for the United States to leave the United Nations? Well, here's another one; on Friday, when Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu took the stage to deliver an address, several delegates "stormed out" of the hall. Some of them are the same ones who cheered Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas the day before.
Delegates at the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) stormed out Friday as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu took the stage and prepared to speak. The mass exit came after delegates spent days speaking about the situation in Gaza and proposals to end the nearly two-year war.
Their response to Netanyahu was a stark contrast to the long round of applause that Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas received when he addressed the international body virtually on Thursday.
This is the United Nations, today, in a nutshell. A significant portion - the exact number is unclear - of delegates walked out on the Prime Minister of Israel. Israel is the only nation in the Middle East with a freely elected government. It's the only nation in the region that allows religious minorities - Muslims - to serve in their Parliament and their military. On the other hand, they cheered the leader of the Palestinian Authority, who represents a country that does not exist, a people that overwhelmingly support Hamas, Hezbollah and other terror groups.
But the Israeli PM was speaking to a larger audience.
On Friday, as Netanyahu began his address, he was speaking to a nearly empty hall. It is unclear exactly which delegations stayed in the chamber, though U.S. delegates were present.
While he did not have the attention of all the U.N. delegates, Netanyahu revealed in his speech that he was addressing a much wider audience. Netanyahu revealed that his speech was played on speakers surrounding the Gaza Strip and that it was being streamed to Gazans' cell phones.
That's a canny move.
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As far as Abbas's speech:
When Abbas spoke on Thursday, he slammed Israel's "genocide" in Gaza, insisted his party is ready to take over the security and governance of the enclave and appealed to President Donald Trump for peace. He also demanded "full membership in the United Nations," given that several European nations recognized a Palestinian state over the course of the UNGA.
"Palestine is ours. Jerusalem is the jewel of our hearts and our eternal capital. We will not leave our homeland. We will not leave our lands," Abbas declared.
There is no Palestinian state to recognize, but that's never stopped the rabble-rousers in that region. But here's the best bit:
Abbas may have had a bigger audience in the hall than Netanyahu, but he was unable to see it in person after the State Department refused to approve his visa to travel to New York for the conference, citing support of terrorism.
That, I admit, is chuckle-inducing.
This is yet another argument for the United States leaving the United Nations. It's also a pretty good reason for Israel to bail. In fact, the United Nations itself is largely an organization that has outlived its usefulness. It's a dedicated dictator's club; the organization appoints representatives from some of the most repressive nations on the planet to "human rights" councils, and they expect the United States to pick up the tab for a fifth of their operating budgets.
It's time to tell the United Nations where to get off.
Editor’s Note: Thanks to President Trump and his administration’s bold leadership, we are respected on the world stage, and our enemies are being put on notice.
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