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Benjamin Netanyahu has taken aim at Sir Keir Starmer and other world leaders who have chosen to recognise the Palestinian state, declaring: 'Israel will not allow you to shove a terror state down our throats'.
The Israeli Prime Minister was defiant as he addressed the United Nations this afternoon and said that his country 'must finish the job' against Hamas in Gaza.
'I will condemn those leaders who, instead of condemning the murderers, rapists and burners of children, want to give them a state in the heart of Israel', he said in an attack on world leaders including the British Prime Minister.
'Your disgraceful decision will encourage terrorism against Jews and against innocent people everywhere'.
He castigated 'leaders who cower in the face of evil, you will not escape the storm of jihad by sacrificing Israel.
'Here's another message to western leaders, Israel will not allow you to shove a terror state down our throats. We will not commit national suicide because you don't have the guts to face down a hostile media and anti-Semitic mobs demanding Israel's blood', he added.
Sir Keir has been accused of 'rewarding' Hamas after he announced the UK's recognition of an independent Palestinian state on Sunday. Canada, Australia, Portugal, Belgium and France have done the same.
He spoke after dozens of delegates from multiple nations walked out of the U.N. General Assembly hall en masse Friday as he began speaking.
During his state visit to the UK, U.S. President Donald Trump said he has 'a disagreement with the prime minister' about his formal recognition of Palestine.
Today scores of delegates stormed out of the UN General Assembly as Benjamin Netanyahu began his speech defending Israel's war in Gaza.
Dozens of delegates from nations including Iran stormed out before the Israeli PM began a passionate defence of Israel's war in Gaza - shockingly declaring western recognition of Palestine shows 'murdering Jews pays off'.
In a surprise move, Netanyahu also revealed his speech was being broadcast live into Gaza using giant speakers placed along the border with Israel.
Netanyahu's office claims that the IDF has 'taken control of the phones' of Palestinian civilians and Hamas operatives in Gaza, and his UN speech is 'now being broadcast live via those devices.'
Gaza residents reportedly received text messages with a link to Netanyahu's speech, and there is no immediate confirmation of devices being taken over.
In his speech, Netanyahu addressed Palestinians in Gaza saying that the war can end immediately with the return of the hostages, the disarmament of Hamas, and the demilitarization of the Strip.
He also hit out at Western leaders for recognising Palestine, saying giving them a state 'one mile from Jerusalem after October 7 is like giving al-Qaeda a state one mile from New York after 9/11'.
He added: 'This is sheer madness, it's insane, we won't do it' - and claimed 'persistent Palestinian rejection of a Jewish state is what has driven this conflict for over a century'.
As he has in the past, Netanyahu held up a visual aid - a map of the region titled 'THE CURSE', before marking it up with a large marker.
Friday's speech was his chance to push back on the international community's biggest platform. He said Friday that Israel has 'crushed the bulk' of armed Palestinian group Hamas's 'terror machine' and sought to finish the job 'as fast as possible.'
Netanyahu celebrated what he said was a series of Israeli strategic victories in the past year that also included targeting Iran's nuclear program and assassinating the Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah in Lebanon.
'Here's another message to western leaders, Israel will not allow you to shove a terror state down our throats. We will not commit national suicide because you don't have the guts to face down a hostile media and anti-Semitic mobs demanding Israel's blood,' Netanyahu added.
Netanyahu faces international isolation, accusations of war crimes and growing pressure to end a conflict he has continued to escalate.
In recent days, Australia, Canada, France, the United Kingdom and others announced their recognition of an independent Palestinian state.
The European Union is also considering tariffs and sanctions on Israel. The assembly this month passed a nonbinding resolution urging Israel to commit to an independent Palestinian nation, which Netanyahu has said is a non-starter.
The International Criminal Court has issued an arrest warrant accusing Netanyahu of crimes against humanity, which he denies.
And the UN's highest court is weighing South Africa's allegation that Israel has committed genocide in Gaza, which it vehemently refutes.
Against that backdrop, Netanyahu sounded resolute Thursday as he boarded a plane in Israel to head for the UN's annual meeting of top-level leaders in New York.
'I will tell our truth,' Netanyahu said. 'I will condemn those leaders who, instead of condemning the murderers, rapists and burners of children, want to give them a state in the heart of Israel.'
At a special session of the assembly this week, nation after nation expressed horror at the 2023 attack by Hamas militants that killed about 1,200 people in Israel, saw 251 taken hostage and triggered the war.
Many of the representatives went on to call for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza and influx of aid.
Israel's sweeping offensive has killed more than 65,000 Palestinians in Gaza and displaced 90 percent of its population, with an increasing number now starving.
While more than 150 countries now recognise a Palestinian state, the United States has not, providing Israel with vociferous support.
But US President Donald Trump pointedly signaled Thursday there are limits, telling reporters in Washington that he wouldn't let Israel annex the occupied West Bank.
Israel hasn't announced such a move, but several leading members in Netanyahu's government have advocated doing so.
And officials recently approved a controversial settlement project that would effectively cut the West Bank in two, a move that critics say could doom chances for a Palestinian state. Trump and Netanyahu are scheduled to meet during his visit.
Back in the Mideast, Israel said Friday it planned to broadcast Netanyahu's UN General Assembly speech from southern Israel into Gaza, carrying his remarks across the border to Palestinians in the besieged enclave.
His office 'instructed civilian groups in cooperation with the army to place loudspeakers on trucks on the Israeli side of the border,' it said in a statement, noting that the broadcasts would be arranged so they would not endanger soldiers.
Netanyahu was preceded Thursday by Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas, who addressed the General Assembly via video, since the US denied him a visa.
He welcomed the announcements of recognition but said the world needs to do more to make statehood happen.
'The time has come for the international community to do right by the Palestinian people' and help them realise 'their legitimate rights to be rid of the occupation and to not remain a hostage to the temperament of Israeli politics,' he said.
Abbas leads the internationally recognized Palestinian Authority, which administers portions of the West Bank.
Hamas won legislative elections in Gaza in 2006 before seizing control from Abbas' forces the following year.
Israel captured the West Bank, east Jerusalem and the Gaza Strip in the 1967 Mideast war, then withdrew from Gaza in 2005.
The Palestinians want all three territories to form their envisioned state, part of a 'two-state solution' that the international community has embraced for decades.
Netanyahu opposes it robustly, maintaining that creating a Palestinian state would reward Hamas.
'This will not happen,' he said at the airport Thursday.
The walkout came just moments after the IDF confirmed that it was ordered by Netanyahu's office to broadcast the premier's UN speech to Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, as part of an 'influence campaign.'
Netanyahu's office said it had instructed the military to place loudspeakers on trucks on the Israeli side of the Gaza border only, without risking the lives of troops, though the IDF says it also brought such loudspeakers into the Strip.
However, it remains unclear if the IDF violated the prime minister's instruction by bringing the loudspeakers into war-torn Gaza, or if the statement from Netanyahu's office consisted of false information, reports the Times of Israel.
The military says a total of nine loudspeaker systems were deployed for the 'influence campaign,' aimed both at the Palestinian civilian population in the Strip and against Hamas.