At UNGA, Biden describes horrors of Oct. 7 and Gaza war, urging sides to accept deal
President warns against despair as war rages, calls out settler violence and pushes two-state solution, while Mideast leaders slam Israeli ‘genocide’; Netanyahu to speak Thursday
Jacob Magid is The Times of Israel's US bureau chief
US President Joe Biden highlighted the horrors of Hamas’s October 7 onslaught along with Israel’s subsequent war in Gaza to eradicate the terror group during his final address to the UN General Assembly on Tuesday, urging the sides to accept the ceasefire and hostage release deal that Washington has helped broker.
The widening Mideast conflict featured prominently in the speech of a president who entered office prioritizing other foreign policy issues. The Israel-Hamas war and subsequent tensions between the Jewish state and Iran’s other proxies have forced the Biden administration to shift its focus, and while the president acknowledged that prospects for peace are dire, the US will not and cannot give up on trying to bring about a resolution.
Biden harked back to his entry into politics five decades ago when similar discord enveloped the globe. “Israel and Egypt went to war, but then forged a historic peace… Things can get better. We should never forget that. I’ve seen that throughout my career,” he said.
“I know many look at the world today and see difficulties and react with despair, but I do not, I won’t,” Biden continued. “As leaders, we don’t have the luxury. I recognize the challenges from Ukraine, to Gaza, to Sudan and beyond.”
Beginning the Mideast section of his speech, Biden stressed that “the world must not flinch from the horrors of October 7. Any country would have the right, the responsibility to ensure that such an attack could never happen again.”
“Thousands of armed Hamas terrorists invaded a sovereign state, slaughtering and massacring more than 1,200 people, including 46 Americans, in their homes and at a music festival. Despicable acts of sexual violence. Two hundred and fifty innocents taken hostage. I’ve met with the families of those hostages. I’ve grieved with them. They’re going through hell,” Biden said.
Turning to the suffering of Palestinians in Gaza, he said, “Innocent civilians in Gaza are also going through hell. Thousands and thousands of civilians, including aid workers — too many families displaced, crowding in tents, facing a dire humanitarian situation. They didn’t ask for this war that Hamas started.”
“I put forward with Qatar and Egypt a ceasefire and hostage deal. It’s been endorsed by the UN Security Council. Now is the time for the parties to finalize its terms, bring the hostages home, secure security for Israel and a Gaza free of Hamas’s grip, ease the suffering in Gaza and end this war,” Biden said to applause from the packed plenum.
Biden told the UN General Assembly that he remains committed to preventing a regional war and stressed that it is still possible to achieve a diplomatic resolution between Israel and Hezbollah that would prevent such an outcome, despite the spiraling violence in recent days.
“Since October 7, we’ve also been determined to prevent a wider war than engulfs the entire region,” Biden said.
He made a point of stressing that Hezbollah was the party that began attacking Israel “unprovoked” after October 7, leading to cross-border tit-for-tat exchanges that has left tens of thousands of civilians displaced on both sides.
“Full-scale war is not in anyone’s interest. Even as the situation has escalated, a diplomatic solution is still possible. In fact, it remains the only path to lasting security to allow the residents from both countries to return to their homes and the border safely,” Biden said.
He then used his platform on one of the world’s largest international stages to call out Israeli settler violence against Palestinians, which has gone largely unchecked in the West Bank.
“We must address the rise of violence against innocent Palestinians on the West Bank,” said Biden, whose administration began levying sanctions against extremist Israeli individuals and organizations at the beginning of the year and has pledged to continue doing so.
In the same breath, he urged “set[ting] the conditions for a better future, including a two-state solution, where Israel enjoys security and peace, full recognition and normalized relations with all its neighbors and where Palestinians live in security, dignity and self-determination in a state of their own.”
Wrapping up his speech, Biden offered a parting message to leaders, reminding them that there are more important things than staying in power.
He reflected on his decision over the summer not to seek reelection.
“Being president has been the honor of my life. There’s so much more I wanted to get done. But as much as I love the job, I love my country more. I decided, after 50 years of public service, it’s time for a new generation to pull my nation forward,” Biden said.
“My fellow leaders, let us never forget, some things are more important than staying in power. It’s your people who matter the most. Never forget we are here to serve the people, not the other way around.”
Biden did not call out Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu by name, but the premier has repeatedly come under the accusation — including privately by US officials — that some of his decisions in prosecuting the war against Hamas have been motivated by a desire to appease far-right coalition partners who hold the key for him remaining in power.
Netanyahu is slated to address the UN on Thursday, an Israeli official told The Times of Israel. He was initially slated to speak on Friday and remain in New York for the Jewish Sabbath. By moving the speech, he will be able to return to Israel on Friday.
Netanyahu’s trip to the US was already shortened due to the major escalation with Hezbollah.
Erdogan likens Netanyahu to Hitler
Other speeches at the UN General Assembly were far more critical of Israel and its leadership, including that of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who again compared Netanyahu to Adolf Hitler.
“Just as Hitler was stopped by an alliance of humanity seventy years ago, Netanyahu and his murder network must be stopped by an alliance of humanity,” he said.
Erdogan claimed that the values of the UN system and the Western world are “dying in Gaza” and called for an “alliance of humanity” to stop Israel, blasting the UN Security Council for failing to end the war in Gaza.
Erdogan didn’t hide his contempt for Washington’s policy in the region. “Those who are supposedly working for a ceasefire from this stage continue to send arms and ammunition to Israel so it can continue its massacres.”
Turning to the latest tensions between Israel and Hezbollah, Erdogan said Turkey stands with the people of Lebanon and accused Israel of dragging the entire region into war with its attacks on the terror group.
“What more are you waiting for to stop the massacre network that endangers also the lives of its own citizens along with the Palestinian people and drags the entire region into war for the sake of its political prospects?” he asked.
Responding to the Turkish leader’s speech, Israeli Ambassador to the UN Danny Danon said, “There are terrorists who kidnap citizens into tunnels in Gaza, there are terrorists who fire rockets from Lebanon, and there is Erdogan who comes every year to the UN and spreads pure hatred against the State of Israel.”
Qatari emir accuses Israel of hampering hostage talks
In a later speech Tuesday, Qatar’s Emir Hamad Al Thani branded Israel’s war against Hamas in Gaza a “genocide.”
“We oppose violence and the targeting of innocent civilians by any party, but after a year of this war… it is no longer tenable to talk about Israel’s right to defend itself in this context without being complicit in justifying the crime,” he said, in an apparent attack on the US and other Western countries.
Adopting phrases utilized by anti-Israel activists on college campuses, Al Thani said Palestinians are an “indigenous people on their own land… who are subjected to a settler colonial occupation, [which] has taken the form of an apartheid system in the 21st century.”
The Qatari emir also bashed the current Israeli government’s efforts “to expand settlements, annex the West Bank and Judaize Jerusalem.”
Turning to the conflict in Lebanon, Al Thani accused Israel of “committing a major crime by rigging wireless communication devices and exploding them simultaneously across thousands of people with total disregard for their identity or location.”
Israel has not taken responsibility for a series of explosions in pagers and walkie-talkies carried by Hezbollah operatives that killed dozens and wounded several thousand people.
“This is what we have repeatedly warned against if the brutal war on Gaza does not end,” he continued.
Slamming Israel’s escalating operations against Hezbollah without mentioning the Iran-backed group’s nearly year-long cross-border terror attacks, Al Thani claimed, “They know that it will neither bring security nor peace to northern Israel, nor to Lebanon.”
He went on to highlight his country’s role as a mediator between Israel and Hamas, lamenting how the process has been repeatedly hampered, including by Israel’s July assassination of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran.
Al Thani noted that mediation efforts culminated in a ceasefire and hostage deal in late November and pledged to “continue to make every effort with our partners until we reach a permanent ceasefire, secure the release of prisoners and detainees” and advance a two-state solution.
He called out those talking about the post-war management of Gaza through a lens that only considers the security of Israelis, rather than that of the Palestinians. “It is this approach that wants to tailor the entire region to fit Israel while looking for circumventions to avoid ending the occupation.”
Al Thani also expressed his backing for a Palestinian bid for full UN membership, which has been blocked by the US under the argument that it would harm peace efforts.
“Talking about such a step harming the peace process is simply eyewash because there is no Israeli partner for peace during the current government’s tenure,” he claimed.
Abdullah rejects Israeli far-right effort to make Jordan Palestine
Jordan’s King Abdullah focused almost the entirety of his UN General Assembly address on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, blasting Israel’s conduct of the war in Gaza, its policies in the West Bank and its attacks on Hezbollah in Lebanon.
“The attacks of October 7 on Israeli civilians last year were condemned by countries all over the world, including Jordan, but the unprecedented scale of terror unleashed on Gaza since that day is beyond any justification,” Abdullah said, making no mention of Hamas throughout the entire speech.
“The Israeli government’s assault has resulted in one of the fastest death rates in recent conflicts, one of the fastest rates of starvation caused by war, the largest cohort of child amputees and unprecedented levels of destruction. This Israeli government has killed more children, more journalists, more aid workers and more medical personnel than any other war in recent memory,” he said.
Israel asserts that it does not target civilians, while Hamas intentionally fights and hides among them.
The Jordanian leader called for the establishment of “a protection mechanism” for Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza. “This will guarantee the safety of Palestinians and Israelis from extremists who are taking our region to the brink of an all-out war.”
He also urges the international community to join Jordan’s “Gaza Humanitarian Gateway” to provide aid for those in need in the Strip.
Abdullah lambasted those on the Israeli far-right “who continue to propagate the idea of Jordan as an alternative homeland” for the Palestinians.
“Let me be very clear: That will never happen. We will never accept the forced displacement of Palestinians, which is a war crime,” he said. “Let us not forget the attacks on the West Bank… Armed settler violence has surged, and entire villages have been displaced.”
“In Jerusalem, flagrant violations of the historical and legal status quo at Muslim and Christian holy sites continue unabated under the protection and encouragement of members of the Israeli government,” he said.
“For years, the Arab world has extended a hand to Israel through the Arab Peace Initiative, offering full recognition and normalization in exchange for peace, but consecutive Israeli governments, emboldened by years of impunity, have rejected peace and chosen confrontation instead,” said the leader of one of the few Arab countries that has already normalized relations with Israel.
“For decades, Israel has projected itself as a thriving Western-style democracy in the Middle East, but the brutality of the war on Gaza has forced the world to look closer. Now, many see Israel through the eyes of its victims, and the contradiction, the paradox, is too jarring. The modern advanced Israel admired from afar, and the Israel that Palestinians have experienced firsthand simply cannot coexist,” Abdullah continued.
“Israel will eventually be entirely one or the other. That is the choice its leaders and its people will have to make — to live by the democratic values of freedom, justice and equality for all, or to risk further isolation and rejection,” he said.
UN chief accuses Israel of ‘collective punishment’ policy in Gaza
In his speech opening up the General Assembly’s High-Level Week, UN Secretary-General António Guterres accused Israel of carrying out “collective punishment” against the Palestinians in Gaza.
“Nothing can justify the abhorrent acts of terror committed by Hamas on October 7 or the taking of hostages, both of which I have repeatedly condemned,” he said.
“And nothing can justify the collective punishment of the Palestinian people,” he continued — this time to applause.
“The speed and scale of the destruction and killing in Gaza are unlike anything in my years as secretary general,” Guterres continued, noting that over 200 UN staff have been killed.
Guterres said that the international community “must mobilize for an immediate ceasefire, the immediate and unconditional release of hostages, and the beginning of an irreversible process toward a two-state solution.”
He also expressed alarm over the recent escalation between Israel and Hezbollah in Lebanon.
“Gaza is a nonstop nightmare that threatens to take the entire region with it,” he said. “Look no further than Lebanon. We should all be alarmed by the escalation. Lebanon is at the brink. The people of Lebanon, the people of Israel and the people of the world cannot afford Lebanon to become another Gaza.”
Lazar Berman contributed to this report.
