Delegations walk out of UN General Assembly as Netanyahu speaks

Delegations from several countries walked out of the UN General Assembly hall on Thursday as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu began his address, a move that drew a pointed response from Netanyahu to those who remained.

Netanyahu said, “If there are any more cowards who have not yet left the hall, I ask them to leave now.”

He added that, in his view, Israel “while defending itself, is also defending many of the countries whose delegations just left the hall.”

Addressing Iran, Netanyahu said that destroying its nuclear facilities was “very difficult,” but described the decision to carry out such an operation as “one of the easiest decisions” he had made.

Netanyahu repeated his call for the remaining delegations to leave the hall, again referring to those who stayed as “cowards.”