Israel UN diplomat blasts walkout prior to Netanyahu’s speech as ‘staged’

Israel’s top diplomat at the United Nations dismissed delegates who walked out before Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s address and blasted the international body for holding key Middle East talks during a Jewish holiday, leaving Jerusalem’s delegation without representation.

“It was a staged walkout. Most of the people were not diplomats. They were staffers from hostile missions,” Israeli Ambassador to the United Nations Danny Danon told Fox News Digital. 

He noted that Netanyahu was the first speaker of the day, meaning the diplomats who stormed out of the hall arrived only to participate in the walkout. 

“I told them, ‘get out and don’t come back,’ and I meant it. If they cannot listen to the words of the prime minister representing Israel and the Jewish people, I don’t think they have a place in this hall,” he said.

UN DELEGATES WALK OUT OF NETANYAHU ADDRESS AFTER CHEERING PALESTINIAN LEADER DAY BEFORE

Danon added that most delegations stayed in the room and respected both Netanyahu and the state of Israel.

Netanyahu may have been speaking to a smaller audience within the hall, but his address was broadcast on speakers in Gaza and on Gazans’ cell phones, something the prime minister revealed while on stage. Danon said that the prime minister would often consider how to carry the message and the “brilliant idea” of broadcasting it so that the Palestinians could hear his speech was an extension of that.

Danon told Fox News Digital that Netanyahu’s address was not directed at Hamas leaders, who, he argued, “don’t care” and only understand the language of tanks and aircraft. Instead, he said, the message was meant for the people of Gaza and for the hostages who have been languishing in the enclave for nearly two years.

Danon also lamented that the U.N. scheduled key talks on the Middle East during the Jewish holiday of Rosh Hashanah.

“They had a discussion about the Middle East, about Israel, without Israel. I think it shows the hypocrisy of the United Nations,” Danon told Fox News Digital. “Some leaders care more about hearing themselves rather than actually rewarding a dialogue.”

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