TEHRAN- Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu attempted to whitewash the regime’s atrocious crimes in Gaza and Lebanon as he delivered a speech at the United Nations General Assembly in New York amid large protests against his trip to the United States.

The Israeli army has killed more than 41,500 Palestinians, including some 17,000 children, in Gaza since declaring war on the territory on October 7. 

Israel has also killed over 700 people, including dozens of children in Lebanon since launching a massive bombing campaign against the Mediterranean country on Monday. 

Israel stands accused of genocide at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) for its brutalities in Gaza. The regime has also faced global backlash for its deadly strikes on Lebanon.

Bibi blame game 

Netanyahu told the most outrageous lies during his UN address and tried to play the innocent, arguing that the regime must defend itself “against these savage murderers”.

“Our enemies seek not only to destroy us, they seek to destroy our common civilization and return all of us to a dark age of tyranny and terror,” he said. 

Netanyahu, known as Bibi, was referring to the Palestinian resistance movement Hamas, Lebanon’s Hezbollah and Iran. 

He said “Hamas has got to go” and would have no role in the reconstruction of Gaza, pledging to fight until “total victory”.

“If Hamas stays in power, it will regroup and attack Israel again and again and again. So Hamas has got to go,” he said.

In addition to committing genocide in Gaza, Israel has destroyed much of the enclave. But it has failed to achieve “total victory” over Hamas and “destroy” the resistance group. 

In order to divert global attention from its war of genocide in Gaza, Israel has carried out deadly strikes against Lebanon too. The regime seeks to deter Hezbollah from launching missiles toward Israel. 

Israel and Hezbollah have been exchanging fire since the regime began its war on Gaza. The Lebanese resistance movement has stressed that it won’t stop the attacks unless Israel ends the Gaza onslaught.  

Netanyahu vowed during his speech at the UN body that his army will “continue degrading Hezbollah” until achieving its goals. 

His new threats against Hezbollah have thrown a spotlight on Israel’s vulnerability. 

In June, the head of the company responsible for planning Israel’s electrical systems warned that Hezbollah can make Israel “uninhabitable in 72 hours”.

“We are not in a good situation, and we are not prepared for a real war. We are living in a fantasy,” Shaul Goldstein, who leads Israel’s Independent System Operator Ltd, known by its Hebrew initials NOGA, was cited as saying by Israeli media. 

He added, “We cannot promise electricity if there is a war in the north. After 72 hours without electricity, it will be impossible to live here. We are not prepared for a real war.”

Goldstein was responding to a question on whether he could guarantee continuous power in an emergency scenario if Israel goes to direct war with Hezbollah. 

The official admitted that Hezbollah is able to neutralize Israel’s power grid like a piece of cake. 

“If Nasrallah (Hezbollah’s leader) decides to paralyze Israel’s power grid, he only needs to pick up the phone and call the head of Beirut’s power grid, which is [technically] identical to Israel’s,” Goldstein said. 

Anti-Iran threats

Netanyahu also threatened Iran with military action. 

 “There is no place in Iran that the long arm of Israel cannot reach, and that’s true of the entire Middle East,” he said. 

The Israeli premier claimed Iran will endanger every country in the Middle East (West Asia) and many beyond. 

Iran has already warned Israel of a crushing response if it carries out any acts of aggression against the country. 

On April 13, Iran launched a salvo of more than 300 drones and missiles at Israel. The Islamic Revolution Guard Corps (IRGC) dubbed the operation “True Promise”. 

It came after several Iranian military advisors including a top commander were assassinated in the wake of an Israeli strike against Iran’s consulate in the Syrian capital Damascus on April 1st. 

At that time, Israel’s Western and West Asia allies aided Israel in dealing with the Iranian strike.  

The Washington Post later published a report raising serious doubts about whether Israel would be prepared for a new Iranian attack like the one it conducted in April. 

The American newspaper said there are fears that, even with the US support, Israel’s aerial defense systems may not be able to fully counter a massive, coordinated attack by Iran and the regional resistance movements. 

Israel’s isolation

Many world officials and diplomats walked out of the UN General Assembly in protest ahead of Netanyahu’s speech, throwing a spotlight on the regime’s growing international isolation.

In addition to the wave of walk-outs, leaders from a significant number of countries came down hard on the Netanyahu regime for its brutal war in Gaza and deadly strikes in Lebanon as they addressed the 79th session of the UN.
Besides, anger against Netanyahu’s presence in New York sparked large protests. 

New Yorkers bash Bibi

Protests erupted soon after Netanyahu, known as Bibi, arrived in New York on Thursday to address the UN body.  

Protesters gathered close to the UN building in Manhattan and Netanyahu’s residence. 

Demonstrators vented their anger at Netanyahu’s visit to the US and condemned his army’s cold-blooded savagery against people in the Gaza Strip and Lebanon. 

There have been numerous protests in New York City since Israel launched war in Gaza nearly a year ago. 

The number of these demonstrations in the city swelled in the spring when college students across the United States erected encampments and urged their administrations to divest from companies that do business with Israel. 

Several anti-war groups in New York organized the latest demonstrations against Netanyahu’s trip. 

Manny Perez, 37, who joined the Thursday march, told the New York Times that he wanted to express his opposition to Netanyahu's visit and “the way he’s allowed to walk free and come to the United Nations”.

Karen Frost-Arnold, a professor of philosophy, also told the US newspaper that he had traveled to Manhattan from Geneva, N.Y., to take part in the Thursday protest. Frost-Arnold,47, added that she had wanted to travel to Washington to protest Netanyahu’s address to Congress in July but had not been able to make the trip.

“I’ve been looking for a chance to come and let him know that what he’s doing is reprehensible,” Frost-Arnold said.

People carried signs reading “Bring the hostages home” and “End the war”, and when Netanyahu’s name was mentioned in a speech, the crowd chanted “shame, shame, shame”, according to the Guardian. 

A speaker of one of groups organizing the protests said, “Stop killing children, end the war, sign the deal, bring the hostages home. There is no military solution.”

They were referring to Netanyahu’s refusal to sign a ceasefire deal with Hamas to end the war. 

Many protesters said Israel’s bombing campaign in Lebanon has reinforced the urgency of their cause.

They described Netanyahu as a war criminal demanding that the US end military aid to Israel.

Some others called on the US government to arrest Netanyahu to be tried at the International Criminal Court. 

In May, ICC’s prosecutor, Karim Khan, requested the court, which is based in the Netherlands, issue arrest warrants against  Netanyahu and his war minister Yoav Gallant for committing “war crimes” and “crimes against humanity” in Gaza.

Propagating falsehoods 

Netanyahu leveled comparable accusations and disseminated similar falsehoods as he addressed a joint session of the US Congress in July.

During his speech in Congress, Netanyahu was applauded 79 times, 58 of which were standing ovations as he tried to justify his army’s genocidal war on Gaza.

This was a big prize for Netanyahu whose regime does not scruple to kill defenseless civilians either in Palestine or Lebanon.  

Bibi was given another prize for butchering Palestinians and Lebanese on Thursday after securing a new $8.7 billion US military aid package. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin also announced that Washington will continue backing Israel.  

Despite receiving unwavering military support from the US, Israel will ultimately have to end its war on Lebanon and Gaza in the face of rising resistance against the regime’s aggression. 

In the meantime, growing protests against Israel’s crimes like the demonstrations that were held in New York, and the walk-outs prior to his UN address suggest the regime has fallen into absolute disgrace.

Israel is a bogus regime that would go extinct. But the US complicity in Israel’s heinous crimes will be recorded in history.