Carlos Taylhardat | 3 Narratives News | September 25, 2025
Intro
“Women are treated as private property, gays are hanged … yet here in Israel people live with freedom.”
With those words, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu seized the UN stage, contrasting Israel’s democratic self-image with what he called the repressive darkness of its enemies. He accused Iran of concealing another “secret nuclear weapons warehouse,” a revelation he framed as proof of Tehran’s duplicity. His address was fiery, combative — and, for supporters, captivating.
Yet only hours before and after, the very same hall echoed with charges of genocide against Israel itself. Leaders from Europe, Africa, and the Arab world described mass civilian deaths in Gaza, the flattening of hospitals and schools, and what they called crimes against humanity. Spain’s King Felipe urged Israel to “stop the massacre.” Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, barred from U.S. soil and forced to speak remotely, said Israel was waging a “war of genocide.”
The contrast could not have been sharper: one man warning of existential threats, others calling him the author of atrocities.
Context
The United Nations General Assembly convened on September 25, 2025, under the shadow of the war in Gaza. The civilian toll — tens of thousands dead, entire neighbourhoods razed, hospitals overrun- has intensified global scrutiny.
- Mahmoud Abbas, speaking via video link, accused Israel of genocide and demanded immediate accountability under international law (The Guardian).
- King Felipe VI of Spain described “abhorrent acts” in Gaza and pleaded with Israel to halt its offensive (The Guardian).
- Other leaders, from South Africa to Türkiye, spoke of war crimes and atrocities, arguing that the rules of war had been trampled (Anadolu Agency).
Netanyahu, for his part, was determined not to let those words stand unchallenged. He dismissed the genocide claims as “lies and slanders,” accused the UN of bias, and cast Israel as the only true democracy in a hostile region (Times of Israel).
Israel’s Story: A Democracy Under Siege
Netanyahu’s address leaned on a familiar but sharpened theme: Israel as a beacon of freedom beset by enemies who would destroy it.
“Women are treated as private property, gays are hanged … yet here in Israel people live with freedom.”
Benjamin Netanyahu declared. Israel, he insisted, is not only a Jewish state but a democratic state where women, LGBTQ+ people, and minorities enjoy rights denied across much of the Middle East (Times of Israel).
He singled out Iran, unveiling what he described as a new secret warehouse tied to its covert nuclear weapons program. “Iran lies about its intentions. It denies the Holocaust while building the means for another,” he said, warning that Tehran’s ambitions posed “the gravest danger to the world.”
Netanyahu portrayed accusations of genocide in Gaza as propaganda — a tool of militant groups like Hamas and Hezbollah, which he said embed themselves among civilians to maximize casualties. To him, Israel’s military strikes are regrettable but necessary, part of an existential war against terror networks.
Supporters of this view argue that if Israel falters, it is not only Israel that loses — the entire liberal order in the Middle East collapses. For them, international commissions alleging genocide misread intent, ignore battlefield realities, and indulge political bias at the UN.
Thus, Netanyahu’s posture: refusal to apologize, insistence on moral clarity, and a vow that Israel will fight on, whatever the hall of nations may say.
Palestinians and Critics: Genocide and the Demand for Justice
For Palestinians and their allies, Netanyahu’s claims ring hollow against the devastation in Gaza.
Abbas’s words were blunt: Israel’s campaign is not mere defence but
“a war crime and a crime against humanity”
(The Guardian). He accused Israel of displacing families en masse, destroying medical systems, and starving civilians of food and water.
Spain’s King Felipe sharpened the charge further, citing bombed hospitals and neighborhoods turned to rubble. “These are abhorrent acts that are the very opposite of everything this forum represents,” he told delegates. Leaders from across the Global South echoed him, warning that international law risks becoming meaningless if Israel is not held to account (Anadolu Agency).
The independent UN Commission of Inquiry recently concluded that Israel’s conduct in Gaza meets the definition of genocide — both in acts and intent (United Nations). For critics, this provides not just moral weight but legal ammunition for action at the International Criminal Court.
In this narrative, Israel’s claims of being a democracy under siege are dismissed as distraction. The true picture, they argue, is mass civilian suffering — disproportionate, deliberate, and indefensible. Calls are rising not only for a ceasefire but for reparations, trials, and systemic change.
The Silent Story: The People Beyond the Podiums
Lost between fiery podium speeches are the civilians whose lives define the war’s reality.
- In Gaza, families queue for two days to drink water.
- Teachers estimate 30,000 children may never return to school this year.
- Medics pull bodies from collapsed apartments while their own families hide in shelters.
- In Israel’s south, families live with the thud of rockets, rushing children to shelters in seconds.
- Families are waiting for the kidnapped victims of the September attack to return home.
These stories rarely command headlines; they appear only as casualty figures or blurry images. The silence is structural: the UN’s inability to enforce its own mandates, nations unwilling to jeopardize alliances, and the fatigue of audiences numbed by repetition.
What accountability means — when one side wields vastly more power, remains unresolved. Can national defence ever be disentangled from collective punishment? Can legal commissions capture the human agony of displacement? These questions linger in the silence, even as leaders thunder on from the UN dais.
Key Takeaways
- Netanyahu told the UN that Israel is a Jewish and democratic state, contrasting freedoms at home with repression elsewhere.
- He accused Iran of lying about its nuclear program, claiming a new secret warehouse proves Tehran’s deceit.
- Palestinian leaders and allies described Israel’s actions in Gaza as genocide, citing mass civilian deaths and systemic destruction.
- A UN commission has concluded Israel’s actions amount to genocide — a charge Israel flatly rejects.
- The silent story: civilians caught between narratives, their suffering reduced to statistics.
Questions This Article Answers
- What did Netanyahu say at the UN in 2025?
He claimed Israel is a democracy protecting freedoms, accused critics of slander, and alleged Iran has a new secret nuclear site. - Who condemned Israel at the General Assembly?
Leaders, including Mahmoud Abbas and Spain’s King Felipe, accused Israel of genocide and atrocities in Gaza. - What is the UN’s stance?
A recent commission concluded Israel has committed genocide, though Israel rejects the finding. - Why is Iran central to Netanyahu’s speech?
He portrayed Iran as the greatest threat, both for sponsoring militants and allegedly hiding nuclear facilities. - Who is the least heard in this debate?
Ordinary civilians, Palestinian families under bombardment and Israeli communities under rocket fire.
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Israel a Progressive Democracy or Guilty of Genocide — Netanyahu vs. the World at the UN
Carlos Taylhardat | 3 Narratives News | September 25, 2025 Intro “Women are treated as private property, gays are hanged … yet here in Israel people live with freedom.” With those words, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu seized the UN stage, contrasting Israel’s democratic self-image with what he called the repressive darkness of its enemies. He…
