PM Netanyahu Addresses the World: “We Will Continue to Win Because We Have No Other Choice”

Peloni

Screengrab via Youtube.

After days of relentless attacks, accusations, and incitement against Israel delivered before the world at the United Nations, the bar was set very high for Netanyahu as he stepped forward on onto the dais before the General assembly.  Indeed, even as an expert spokesman for both his nation and his people, Netanyahu needed to provide a clear message, one which not only answered the many libels launched against Israel, but which simultaneously revealed the notorious nature of those characters which made those false charges.

Despite the immensity of this burden, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu gave one of the best speeches of his career, marked by a commanding posture, unflinching candor and a quiet resolve.   The speech was direct, unapologetic, and and conceded nothing to the false narratives raised by Israel’s critics, while in the same moment Netanyahu refocused the attention from the echo-chamber of Jew Hatred towards the very characters whose libels were launched from the routinely failing body known as the United Nations.

From the outset, Netanyahu made clear that he had not come to appease the his detractors, nor to soften Israel’s position one iota as the pace of international pressure has risen ever higher. Instead, he challenged the nations of the world, reminding them that Israel’s fight against Iran, Hamas, Hezbollah, and their allies is not merely a struggle for Israel’s survival, but one that affects the security of the entire world.

The speech provided both a defense of Israel’s actions and a declaration of its determination to survive and prevail, not only regardless of the adversity facing the Jewish people but because of it.  In doing so, Netanyahu reflected upon the context of the the current war in the wider depiction of the long history of the Jewish people, recalling the threats Israel faced before the Six-Day War, the heroism of his brother Yoni at Entebbe, and the words which became the central theme of his speech and stemmed from the tragedies forced on the Jewish people:

“We will continue to win because we have no other choice.”

He brought the audience back to October 7, 2023, describing the massacre and the consequences of being a nation attacked on multiple fronts, by what appeared as all but overwhelming forces. Despite the daunting nature of these simultaneous tragedy and dilemma, the Israeli Premiere emphasized that Israel had not only failed to collapse before the onslaught of its enemies, but had in fact fought back the forces seeking its destruction. His message was clear: Israel will not surrender its security or its future to those who seek to destroy it, not on the battlefield, nor in the debates in the public square.

Netanyahu also made the case that Israel’s struggle is part of a much larger confrontation over the future of the free world. He thanked President Trump for standing with Israel against Iran, criticized Western leaders whom he accused of appeasement, and warned that the threats facing Israel also endanger the security and freedom of other nations.

One of the central themes of Netanyahu’s speech was the ongoing battle over truth. Describing it as the eighth front of the war, he noted that Israel is fighting not only on the battlefield but also against a campaign of accusations and distortions. Directly rejecting the charges of genocide, defending Israel’s efforts to protect civilian non-combatants, and challenging those who condemn Israel while remaining silent about the actions of its enemies, Netanyahu moved from defensive refrains to raising specific charges against the notorious characters of the men making false charges against him and his nation.

As he had promised in the days before his attending the UNGA, he directly addressed New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani, drawing the debate into a sharp focus with the statement,

“Mr. Mamdani, since you were elected mayor of this city, many Jews no longer feel safe in New York.”

He went on to chastise Mandani by noting that

“You praise criminals convicted of supporting Hamas. You count as friends people like Hassan Piker, who said America deserved 9-11…You invite into your home a Palestinian journalist who filled Hamas terrorists beating and torturing Israeli hostages and later admitted that he refused to publish the videos in order to protect, you guessed it, the terrorists. Your wife liked a post praising the October 7th massacre, she liked another post saying Tel Aviv shouldn’t exist. You refused to condemn any of that. You falsely, repeatedly accuse Israel of genocide.”

Netanyahu refused to allow accusations against Israel to go unanswered, declaring:

“Israel didn’t commit genocide, Israel prevented genocide.”

Whether addressing the UN delegates, Western leaders, or critics in New York, his message reinforced the fact that Israel would not accept Mamdani’s attempt to reverse the roles of victim and aggressor.

Netanyahu also directly confronted the accusations leveled against Israel, rejecting the charge of genocide as “the greatest lie of the century.” He clarified that Hamas used Palestinian civilians as human shields and turned civilian sites into terrorist command posts, while Israel warned civilians to leave combat areas. He challenged the obvious nature of this evidence characterizing Israel’s conduct as being the opposite of genocide, declaring:

“Israel didn’t commit genocide, Israel prevented genocide.”

The speech’s most powerful moments came when Netanyahu turned from the addressing accusations from Israel’s critics to addressing the Jewish people themselves. He called on Jews around the world to stand tall, reject intimidation, and take pride in their identity, their heritage and their people. He reminded the audience that the Jewish connection to the Land of Israel stretches back thousands of years, and that the Jewish people have endured repeated attempts to destroy them.

The closing message brought the speech full circle. Netanyahu invoked the enduring strength of the Jewish people and declared that the forces seeking their destruction would not prevail.

“The eternity of Israel will not falter.”

And then, returning to the words that framed the entire address:

“We have no other choice.”

The speech was not designed to merely win applause or as an address to Israel’s supporters. Instead, it was intended to defend Israel’s position, to confront its critics, to honor its fallen, to reassure its people, and to remind the world that Israel alone will be the guide of its own destiny, something which is the raison d’être on which the entire Zionist enterprise was based.  This fact was reinforced by the two props which Netanyahu brought with him to the UN:  a beeper and a router.  Indeed, the memory of the Grim Beepers which specifically crippled Hezbollah leadership and personnel and Star Link routers which might one day lead Iran towards gaining its freedom from the UN supported IRGC regime instill the dichotomous attributes which emanate from the majority of UN members for Israel: unsatiated hatred and unfounded fear, as they are conflicted with having no such reaction as defiance and independence in the long history of abusing and slaughtering Jews in their own lands.

Indeed, since 1948, we Jews stand in a new era, which came to be demonstrated in the wake of the calumny of October 7, and by referencing the Israeli victories with a single beeper and the move to support a free Iran with a single router, Netanyahu reminded the world that the Jews are no longer the weak-kneed tools of their Western masters, but are instead a proud, free, and capable people willing and able to meet any challenge and to respond to all horror wreaked against it with a severe and terrible resolve.

To this point, in this historic moment, speaking before the entire world, Netanyahu made no effort to disguise the depth of the conflict nor to minimize the the stakes which are at risk in this contest of war and words. He spoke of war, sacrifice, Jew Hatred, Iranian aggression, and the historic connection between the Jewish people and their homeland, answering the accusations falsely raised against Israel with a forceful defense of both its actions and its legitimacy.

At a moment when Israel has been challenged on the battlefield and in the court of international opinion, this speech delivered a message of resolve by the world’s longest serving and most accomplished statesmen.

Israel will defend itself. Israel will stand its ground. And Israel will not apologize to its enemies for surviving their efforts to destroy her.

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