Netanyahu criticizes France and UK for their colonial past in UN speech

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu railed on Thursday against countries, including France and the United Kingdom, which criticize Israel's colonization policy even though they are themselves former colonizing countries. “They accuse Israel, tiny Israel, of colonialism, what colonialism?” exclaimed Benjamin Netanyahu from the UN podium. “Among them there are people in Britain and France. Hell, they’re the ones who invented the term,” he said, noting that “their colonies covered the entire planet.”

Like last year, dozens of members of the delegations left the room when Benjamin Netanyahu spoke as a protest, at the initiative of the Palestinian mission to the UN. “If there are still cowards in this room who have not left the premises, let them do so now,” he said before beginning his speech.

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Benjamin Netanyahu arrived in New York in the morning and is due to leave immediately afterwards for a whirlwind visit of less than 24 hours. Unusually, no meeting with American officials is on his agenda. His speech comes the day after the car-ramming attack in the occupied West Bank in which the son of the Israeli ambassador to the United States, Yechiel Leiter, was seriously injured. According to the latter, his son, who is a reservist in the Israeli army, is still “in danger” of death.

“Grotesque absurdity”

Benjamin Netanyahu's speech comes as several foreign leaders, including Emmanuel Macron, took advantage of the UN platform this week to criticize the policy pursued by the Israeli government. The French president thus deplored the humanitarian situation in Gaza. “What is our credibility if we continue to remain inactive in the face of Gaza?” he said, also criticizing Israeli actions in the West Bank, where, he said, “Hamas has never been active”.

Israel's response was scathing, denouncing the “grotesque absurdity” of the French head of state's remarks. Last year at the UN, France and Saudi Arabia spearheaded the recognition of a State of Palestine, in the hope of advancing the two-state solution, which appears increasingly uncertain on the ground. Many Western countries, including Canada, France and the United Kingdom, have for months denounced the expansion of Israeli settlements in the West Bank and have imposed sanctions against Israel.