Netanyahu attacks France, Britain, Turkey, and the mayor of New York at the United Nations amid escalating tensions

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who is fighting a difficult re-election campaign, launched a scathing attack at the United Nations on Thursday against critics of Israel, its enemies, and Western countries, amid mounting criticism of the Hebrew state against the backdrop of the war in Gaza and settler violence against Palestinians in the occupied West Bank.

Before he began his speech before the General Assembly, dozens of members of the missions of many countries withdrew, while a number of delegates cheered and booed. In response, Netanyahu said, “If there are any other moral cowards who have not left this hall, let them leave now.”

Netanyahu attacked France and Britain against the backdrop of their colonial past, in light of the criticism they direct at Israel.

He said, “They accuse Israel, little Israel, of colonialism. What kind of colonialism is this?” Who accuses us? Among them are some in Britain and France,” he added, adding that countries like these two “are the ones who created this term.”

Relations between Israel, on the one hand, and Britain and France, on the other hand, are witnessing tension, against the backdrop of the war in Gaza and the escalation of settler attacks in the occupied West Bank, which led to the killing of a number of Palestinians and the theft of their property. The two countries imposed sanctions on products from Israeli settlements in the West Bank, which angered the Israeli government. Last year, French President Emmanuel Macron led efforts to have a number of Western countries recognize Palestine as a state during the General Assembly meeting.

Netanyahu said that the young settlers who are committing violence against Palestinians in the West Bank are “a bunch of deviant juveniles, numbering approximately 150 people, throwing stones and cutting down olive trees.”

On the other hand, Netanyahu described Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan as a “tyrant.” He said, “The latest country to become a hotbed for spreading anti-Semitic lies is Türkiye... Erdogan is a tyrant.” It hosts the leaders of the terrorist Hamas movement.” Although Türkiye remains the first Muslim-majority country to recognize Israel after its establishment in 1948, relations between the two countries have witnessed tensions in recent years. Turkish and Israeli officials exchanged harsh criticism against the backdrop of controversial issues, especially the Gaza war and the situation in Syria.

Regarding the war launched by Israel and the United States against Iran, Netanyahu repeatedly said that it prevented Tehran from developing nuclear weapons. He added, "I pledged to prevent the murderous Iranian dictatorship from developing atomic bombs, nuclear weapons aimed at destroying Israel, and nuclear weapons capable of threatening the entire world." He predicted that Tehran “will eventually fall.”

Netanyahu also attacked the Democratic Mayor of New York, Zahran Mamdani, who had previously said that he was studying the possibility of arresting the Israeli Prime Minister pursuant to an arrest warrant against him issued by the International Criminal Court on charges of committing war crimes and crimes against humanity, before he later admitted that he could not do so. Netanyahu shortened his visit to New York, as his plane landed at a military airport, and his office said that he would hold a number of political meetings, before returning to Israel.

The Prime Minister said that many Jews no longer feel safe in New York since Mamdani's election, addressing him by saying, "Israel is falsely and repeatedly accused of committing genocide... The lies that you and other anti-Semites spread about Jews and the Jewish state have real consequences."

Mamdani, who belongs to the left of the Democratic Party, is one of the most prominent supporters of the Palestinian cause. During an interview with CNN on Monday, he described Netanyahu as a “war criminal” and “the architect of a horrific genocide against the Palestinians,” criticizing the war that Israel waged in the Gaza Strip after the Hamas attack on October 7, 2023.

Netanyahu is preparing to run in the first legislative elections since this war, which are scheduled for October 27. It is expected to face intense competition.

The Prime Minister focused his campaign mainly on security issues.

Netanyahu, who leads the most right-wing government in the history of Israel, entered into a war on several fronts, in Gaza, Lebanon, Syria and Iran, and intensified settlement activity in the occupied West Bank, which since the Hamas attack has witnessed an escalation in violence carried out by settlers.

Several leaders, including Macron, took advantage of their speech from the United Nations podium this week to criticize Netanyahu's policy.

Macron denounced the humanitarian situation in the devastated and besieged Gaza Strip, and said, “What is our credibility if we remain standing idly by in the face of Gaza?” He also criticized the "daily violations" in the West Bank, asking, "With what justification?" Hamas did not carry out attacks in the West Bank.”

Many Western countries, such as Canada, France, and the United Kingdom, have for months condemned the expansion of settlement in the West Bank and imposed sanctions on Israel.

Outgoing United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres warned in his speech on Tuesday of the “specter of ethnic cleansing” with the expansion of settlements, which, he said, undermines the prospects for peace between Israelis and Palestinians.

Before Netanyahu's speech, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas spoke in a video speech. He said that Israeli policies were now threatening “the life and existence of the Palestinian people,” criticizing the American decision not to grant him an entry visa to address the General Assembly from the podium, for the second year in a row.

Abbas said, “We reject these punitive measures and reject the accusations and justifications based on them,” calling on the administration of US President Donald Trump to “retract these sanctions and restrictions, return to the language of dialogue and mutual respect, and work with us and the international community to implement the two-state solution.”

He reaffirmed his intention to hold legislative elections in November, amid local doubts about the possibility of this and international pressure to keep them on schedule.

The war between Iran and the United States continues to have a direct impact on shipping and energy movement in the region, with shipping traffic through the Strait of Hormuz, one of the most important global sea lanes, remaining at much lower levels than usual. At a time when Tehran is intensifying its diplomatic efforts to end the war and lift the blockade imposed on its ports, Washington is moving to tighten pressure on Iranian oil exports, while the repercussions of the sanctions have extended to the aviation sector.

Limited movement through Hormuz

Preliminary traffic data showed that 10 ships transporting goods crossed the Strait of Hormuz on Wednesday, up from seven ships the previous day, but they remained below the ten-day moving average of about 17 ships per day.

Nine ships entered the strait; Among them are ships loaded with minerals, grains, and other dry goods, in addition to a large gas tanker that was empty, while one ship loaded with fertilizers left, according to data available until Thursday dawn. These numbers do not include ships that may have crossed the strait after turning off their transponders, to avoid detection of their movement.

These numbers reveal the extent of the decline in navigation traffic, compared to what was the situation before the outbreak of war on February 28 last. The strait usually witnessed the passage of about 125 large commercial ships daily, including oil and gas tankers, container ships, and bulk cargo.

Ship traffic through Hormuz represented a corridor for about 20 percent of the global daily supplies of crude oil and liquefied natural gas, which makes the continued decline in traffic through it have repercussions beyond the region.

Confiscated Iranian tankers cross the Atlantic

The continued decline in shipping traffic in Hormuz coincided with talks between Iranian and American officials in New York, on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly meetings. In an attempt to find a formula to end the war.

In Beijing, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi renewed the parties' call to settle the US-Iranian conflict through dialogue, saying, in a comment on Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian's statements regarding the Strait of Hormuz, that all parties must search for a peaceful option.

In a development related to the movement of oil, navigation tracking data showed that three oil tankers linked to Iran, and confiscated by the United States, were sailing on Thursday in the Atlantic Ocean, carrying approximately six million barrels of Iranian crude.

The tankers did not specify their destination via transmitters and receivers, but specialized ship tracking data indicated that they were heading towards the United States. The value of the shipment is estimated at approximately $600 million.

Among the tankers is the "Majestic

Other data shows that “Majestic X” and “Tiffany” are currently located off the coast of northern Brazil.

The United States confiscated the two tankers last April after they were loading oil from Iran, while tracking device data identified China and Singapore as their destinations when confiscated.

As for the third tanker, “Lenor,” it entered the Atlantic Ocean via the Cape of Good Hope route off South Africa on Tuesday. Washington confiscated it in June in the Indian Ocean.

The US Department of Defense says that the tanker seizures come as part of its efforts to dismantle “illicit networks” and intercept sanctioned ships that provide material support to Iran.

Iranian and Ukrainian contacts

In parallel with communications related to the war, the foreign ministers of Iran and Ukraine held a meeting on Thursday, on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly meetings, according to the semi-official Iranian Mehr Agency.

The meeting is the first of its kind between the two ministers since tensions escalated between the two countries in July, following a Ukrainian attack on an Iranian commercial ship in the Caspian Sea.

Menelaus Ledrius, Secretary-General of the International Gas Union, said that global gas markets are increasingly taking into account the continued scarcity of supplies beyond the winter because the war on Iran is disrupting liquefied natural gas exports from the Gulf region and complicating Europe’s efforts to rebuild its gas reserves.

These forecasts come at a time when Europe is competing with Asia for LNG shipments. In an attempt to refill storage facilities before winter, amid still ongoing uncertainty about the impact of the conflict on exports from Qatar; One of the largest suppliers of liquefied natural gas in the world.

Yedrios stated that gas futures prices indicate that traders expect prices to continue to rise and the risks that threaten supplies until next summer, before they begin to decline. EU member states represent more than 90 percent of the global gas market.

“The market currently indicates expectations that the conflict will continue for a longer period,” Yedrios said, according to Reuters.