Netanyahu resorted to his 'machine of lies' that he has been accustomed to for over two decades, meaning that every criticism of Israel turns into a lie, every objection into anti-Semitism, every political opponent into a partner of terrorism, and every Western government that criticizes Israel becomes, in one way or another, a prisoner of left-wing pressures. Thus, he attacked Britain, France, Turkey, and Qatar, and opened a personal confrontation with New York Mayor Zahran Mmdani, in a speech that, in parts, seemed closer to an internal electoral speech than a word addressed to the international community.
As for his style, he relied on the 'Goebbelsian' logic based on deception. When Netanyahu is asked about Gaza, he moves to October 7, when he is asked about Palestinian victims, he moves to Hamas, when the issue of international isolation is raised, he talks about Iran, and when the West criticizes him, he invokes the colonial history of Britain and France. Thus, the past becomes present, and the opponent becomes the issue. The most bizarre thing is that Netanyahu said that Israel, while defending itself, is also defending many of the countries that left the hall, in a desperate attempt to continue misleading until the last moment.
Netanyahu cannot order the world to stay in the hall, nor can he explain the departure of this large number of delegations as a conspiracy against him and Israel. The scene recorded by the world's cameras of the delegations leaving the General Assembly hall will remain one of the scenes etched in the memory of the place and humanity, just like the scene of 'Khrushchev's shoe,' Che Guevara's few words about the Cuban Revolution, and the scene of Yasser Arafat's keffiyeh and the olive branch, all of which are scenes that will never be forgotten.
Because Netanyahu is an expert in media and understands the value of the image, he could not control himself and began to insult the departing delegations, calling them cowardly and immoral, realizing that history will enter him as a 'pariah,' and that his image of being agitated, tense, and strained cannot be erased from the world's cameras. Netanyahu wanted to make the UN platform a stage for a show of strength, but the empty seats became the headline. He wanted to appear as the man who faces the world in defense of Israel, but the scene suggests another image: Israel is increasingly isolated due to his policies and the policies of the terrorist right that feeds on Palestinian and Arab blood.
Here, the paradox does not lie in the world leaving the hall, but in Netanyahu himself not realizing that their departure was a more eloquent speech than his, and that he willingly got involved in creating one of the important shots in the history of the Arab-Israeli conflict, which will not be forgotten.
Rajatalab5@gmailcom
