JNN 26th September 2026 , New York : Around 77 Countries of World Delegates & Diplomats staged a Mass Walkout as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu took the Podium at the UN General Assembly on September 24 , 2026. While Mass Protest was Planned and carried out in NY , by thousand of New Yorkers outside the UN Mission in New York , Demanding his arrest as on the direction of Hague’s ICC ruling & condemning the US Government for being complicit in the War Crimes committed in Gaza by Israeli IDF.
Prompted by a memo from the Palestinian Mission urging delegations to fill seats and walk out collectively, representatives from scores of nations—including Arab, Muslim-majority, African, Latin American, and some European countries—left the chamber in unison as Netanyahu approached the speaker’s lectern.
That’s a huge crowd… 77 delegations reportedly walked out when Netanyahu started his speech.
Arab countries 18
1. Syria
2. Palestine
3. Jordan
4. Lebanon
5. Iraq
6. Saudi Arabia
7. Qatar
8. Kuwait
9. Oman
10. Yemen
11. Egypt
12. Sudan
13. Tunisia
14. Algeria
15. Libya
16. Mauritania
17. Somalia
18. Comoros
Asia
1. Türkiye
2. Iran
3. Pakistan
4. Afghanistan
5. Bangladesh
6. Indonesia
7. Malaysia
8. Brunei
9. Maldives
10. Myanmar
11. North Korea
12. Turkmenistan
13. Uzbekistan
14. Kyrgyzstan
Africa
1. South Africa
2. Senegal
3. Djibouti
4. Angola
5. Republic of the Congo
6. Democratic Republic of the Congo
7. Liberia
8. Eritrea
9. Chad
10. Central African Republic
11. Madagascar
12. Niger
13. Botswana
14. Uganda
15. Lesotho
16. Eswatini
17. Equatorial Guinea
18. Mozambique
19. Namibia
20. Kenya
Latin America & Caribbean
1. Suriname
2. Panama
3. Venezuela
4. Antigua and Barbuda
5. Belize
6. Barbados
7. Colombia
8. Dominica
9. Nicaragua
10. Peru
11. Saint Lucia
12. Bahamas
13. Bolivia
14. Cuba
15. Guyana
16. Brazil
17. Chile
Europe-6
1. North Macedonia
2. San Marino
3. Slovenia
4. Bosnia and Herzegovina
5. Spain
6. Ireland
Pacific-2
1. Tuvalu
2. Tonga
Total: 77 delegations.
Countries whose diplomats stayed or didn’t walk out from the UN Hall during Israeli PM Netanyahu’s speech:
1. 🇺🇸 USA
2. 🇦🇪 UAE
3. 🇧🇭 Bahrain
4. 🇦🇿 Azerbaijan
5. 🇰🇿 Kazakhstan
6. 🇨🇳 China
7. 🇨🇴 Colombia
8. 🇲🇼 Malawi
Facing huge humiliation over empty rows and boos, frustrated Netanyahu dismissed the departing envoys as “moral cowards” and told any remaining critics in the hall to leave as well.
Instead of being apologetic Netanyahu fiercely rejected accusations of genocide in Gaza, criticized international critics, and targeted leaders from nations like Britain, France, and Turkey, while thanking US President Donald Trump for his partnership. He also traded sharp rebukes with New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani, whom Netanyahu accused of making the city unsafe for Jewish residents—remarks that Mamdani’s office dismissed as baseless lies.
Thousands of pro-Palestine protesters, alongside various advocacy and community groups, marched near Bryant Park and toward UN headquarters chanting “Let Gaza live” and calling for an immediate ceasefire and arms embargo against Israel.
The New York Police Department detained more than 100 individuals for disorderly conduct and blocking roads near the UN building, including notable figures such as actress Susan Sarandon and activist Chelsea Manning.
The demonstrators demanded an end to “Israel’s genocidal war in Gaza; and an end to the policies of occupation and forced displacement against Palestinians.
Demonstrators gathered in front of the New York Public Library on 42nd Street, waving Palestinian flags and banners against Israel’s policies in the Palestinian territories, and others calling Netanyahu a “war criminal,” while New York police deployed around the protest.
Participants chanted “Free Palestine” and held placards that read: “We don’t want war criminals in New York,” “Israel is killing Palestinians by starvation,” “We see genocide,” and “The countries of the world should impose sanctions on Israel.”
Many wore shirts reading “Fund people not bombs” and chanted slogans like “Let Gaza live” and “the whole world is watching.” Official vehicles heading to the UN were diverted as protesters sat down in the middle of the street for more than an hour, unfurling banners that called to “end the genocide” and flying a kite reading “Free Palestine” – a reference to Israel’s threat earlier this year that it would target Palestinian children flying kites, organizers said.
“The US and Trump and Benjamin Netanyahu are using the UN as a bully pulpit to basically project their vision of the world, which is one based on brute force and international crimes of aggression and illegal forever wars,” said Nas Issa of the Palestinian Youth Movement, which planned the afternoon protest. “It’s incumbent on member states of the UN to challenge the immunity that America and Israel have enjoyed for decades, but particularly in the past three years since the start of the Gaza genocide.”
The protest against the initiator of Genocidal War Criminal Israeli prime minister, drew thousands of Jewish, Palestinian, Iranian and Lebanese New Yorkers, among others, as well as several elected officials and candidates in the November election, and a number of celebrities.
An estimated few thousand people marched from nearby Bryant Park to the UN in protest of Netanyahu’s visit to the city. Swathed in keffiyehs and carrying Palestinian flags, accompanied by a brass band and drummers, protesters held banners calling on UN member states to sanction Israel, others with illustrations of Netanyahu’s face.
“What we made clear today is that New Yorkers, including Jewish New Yorkers, do not want war criminals and the architects of genocide coming to our city,” said Beth Miller, political director of Jewish Voice for Peace Action, which coordinated the first protest outside the UN. “This is something that we have been saying for years, especially over the last three years during which Israel has killed over 75,000 Palestinians in this genocide – and to be clear that is a severe undercount.”
The march was punctuated by limited skirmishes between groups carrying Israeli flags and pro-Palestinian demonstrators, before the New York police intervened to separate the two sides, and the demonstrators continued their protest at the location designated by the police near the United Nations headquarters.
Calls for the arrest of the “war criminal”
Yitzhak Deutsch, a member of the Orthodox Jewish movement Naturi Karta, which opposes Israel and Zionism, confirmed in a statement to Anadolu Agency that Netanyahu’s speech on behalf of Jews is “wrong.”
“Netanyahu must be arrested, and we thank the mayor of New York (Zahran Mamdani) for every courageous step he took to arrest this war criminal,” Deutsch said, arguing that Netanyahu should have been sent to jail instead of attending the UN General Assembly.
Academic Dennis Kalub said human rights organizations have acknowledged committing a war of genocide in Gaza and ethnic cleansing in the occupied West Bank, adding that the US government and other countries support Israel for its involvement in these crimes.
Kuppet criticized the U.S. attacks on Iran, calling them “completely illogical” and saying the war has caused losses to the world’s population, as well as its impact on human lives and the global economy.
Actor Susan Sarandon, whistleblower Chelsea Manning and comedian Caleb Hearon are detained by NYPD
More than 100 people were arrested outside the United Nations’ headquarters in New York City on Thursday
On Wednesday, members of the Democratic Socialists of America’s New York City chapter rallied at the city’s John F Kennedy international airport in protest of weapons and explosive materials destined for the Israeli military being flown out of the airport on
Protests have long been a staple of Netanyahu’s appearances at the UN, but as Israel’s political isolation has deepened against the backdrop of its destruction of Gaza, the tone of this year’s demonstrations reflect many Americans’ growing anger at their own government’s continued support to the Israeli military.
“We will not be silent as our government fully funds a genocide in Palestine,” said actor Hannah Einbinder, who has frequently spoken out for Palestinians’ rights and who was arrested on Thursday, ahead of the protest. “This moment calls on each and every one of us to speak out and demand the US stop funding genocide.”
She said she felt a moral obligation to join the protests “as a Jew, as an American, and as a human being”.
Fellow actors Susan Sarandon and Debra Winger, whistleblower Chelsea Manning and comedian Caleb Hearon were also among those detained by the NYPD, along with model and actor Indya Moore, author Glennon Doyle, activist Linda Sarsour, rabbi Abby Stein and writer David Valesco.
Many demonstrators remained on the scene after police ordered them to disperse, but they did not appear to resist arrest.
Opposition to Israel’s war in Gaza has prompted a seismic shift in US public opinion of Israel, a change that has begun to trickle into US elections, with scores of leftist candidates winning primaries earlier this year while openly calling to end US aid to Israel. While reflexive support for Israel was once a prerequisite for anyone running for office, in some districts it has increasingly become a liability.
Many of the openly pro-Palestinian candidates who seized primary wins earlier this year were also at Thursday’s protest, including New York’s Darializa Avila Chevalier and Brad Lander, Pennsylvania’s Chris Rabb, New Jersey’s Adam Hamawy, and Colorado’s Melat Kiros. Several New York City and state officials and candidates were also in attendance and at least 10 were arrested, including city council members Chi Ossé and Tiffany Cabán.
“I think it is really important to send a message that New Yorkers do not stand for this,” Chevalier, a pro-Palestinian activist whose primary win in June stunned the political establishment, told reporters at the protest shortly before being arrested. “It is really important that we show that we are willing to fight back against our tax dollars being used to commit war crimes.”
Hamawy, an army doctor who participated in a medical mission in Gaza in 2024, told the Guardian as police moved in to make arrests “we’re ready to do what we have to do. We shouldn’t have to do that to stop a genocide. It’s ridiculous that we have to come out on the streets and protest when we have the body that’s supposed to be upholding international law right there in front of us, inviting Netanyahu as a guest rather than trying him as a war criminal in The Hague.”
The NYPD did not immediately confirm the number of arrests but organizers estimate it was more than 100. The office of New York mayor Zohran Mamdani did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The protests presented a challenge to the mayor Mamdani, who at one point pledged to arrest Netanyahu should he come to town, and who has long said his administration supports New Yorkers’ right to protest.
Mamdani has repeatedly called Netanyahu a “war criminal” who is “not welcome in New York City” but admitted earlier this year that he does not have the legal authority to order his arrest, calling instead on the federal government to do so. At a press conference earlier this week, Mamdani said that he had no plans to attend any protests outside the UN but made clear that New Yorkers were free to do so.