Confronting Allies and Enemies At The United Nations

"The final remnants of Hamas are holed up in Gaza City. They vow to repeat the atrocities of Oct. 7 again and again and again, no matter how diminished their forces. That is why Israel must finish the job." 

"I want to tell you a secret behind closed doors, many of the leaders who publicly condemn us, privately thank us. They tell me how much they value Israel’s superb intelligence services that have prevented time and again, terrorist attacks in their capitals, time and again, saving countless lives."

"Giving the Palestinians a state one mile from Jerusalem after Oct. 7 is like giving Al Qaeda a state one mile from New York City after 9/11. This is sheer madness. It’s insane, and we won’t do it."

"To the remaining Hamas leaders and to the jailers of our hostages, I now say, lay down your arms, let my people go, free the hostages, all of them, the whole 48 free the hostages. Now, if you do, you will live. If you don’t, Israel will hunt you down."

"I want to ask you a simple question, a simple logical question, would a country committing genocide plead with the civilian population it is supposedly targeting to get out of harm’s way?"

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu   

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks during the United Nations General Assembly on September 26, 2025 in New York City. (Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images)

 

Isolated, friendless, it takes nerves of steel and a steely determination to shunt that aside and confront those who, by failing to stand with a country that has for the entire time of its existence been pilloried in public opinion, militarily attacked by its neighbours, suffered a slanderous public relations campaign to delegitimize its legacy and its presence in the Middle East, contended with constant lethal violence committed by terrorist groups whose sole purpose is to destroy the Jewish state, yet calmly, dispassionately and searingly make the point that Israel will nonetheless prevail.

 

Israel's longtime Prime Minister stood before the General Assembly of the United Nations not only to defend itself against malodorous accusations of genocide and apartheid, but to flagellate the inconstancy of those who have posed as allies of the tiny state, as a fellow democracy, trading partner and reliable intelligence source in a world increasingly pummeled by rogue state actors. Allies, many of which have decided in their perfidious worldview of 'progressive' liberalism that the originators of terror and violence against Israel and Jews are, as they claim, the victims, and Israel their oppressor.

 

It is unseemly for a Jewish state in defense of its people, their safety, security and future, to take up arms against those who seek to destroy it. The very nations who would themselves move heaven and earth to destroy the violent threats to themselves by full military responses unforgiving of the welfare of the population from whence the threat emanates, fully expects Israel to stand back and patiently await the next round of sadistic savagery certain to arise from terrorists who openly declare their intention to strike again and again and again.

 

Hamas has run the Gaza Strip since 2007   Getty Images

 

Israel's invasion in Gaza has the intention to ensure that the terrorist group Hamas that has ruled the Palestinian territory for 17 years will never again have the opportunity to repeat the horrors of October 7, 2023. That intention relates to the utter destruction of Hamas, its leadership, operatives, weapons depots, infrastructure, headquarters, launch sites and network of tunnels. The Israel Defense Forces operate as a model of military discipline, capable and employing intelligence enabling it to fire precise missiles for the distinct purpose of eliminating threats from terrorism, while still mindful of minimizing civilian deaths.

 

No mean feat when fighting a terrorist mentality that sees its own civilian population as living shields for the protection of the terrorist structure. The propaganda arm of Hamas has been on overdrive, celebrating the 'martyrdom' of its civilian population as a prop in convincing the international community that Israel's objective is the annihilation of Palestinians in their entirety. Ages-old distrust of the global Jewish community, both the diaspora and now the state that defends the historical dispersed has erupted in an orgy of viral antisemitism.

 

The general membership's diplomacy of the United Nations exercised their sanctimony in an exercise of moral debasement to walk out of the chamber where the Israeli Prime Minister spoke rather than remain even as a diplomatic courtesy practised in a civilized manner respectful of the opportunity to hear out the reason and logic behind an embattled nation's response to an existential threat it has lived with for most of its existence, culminating in the most recent assault of monumental barbarity.

 

"We will not commit national suicide because  you don't have the guts to face down a hostile media and antisemitic mobs demanding Israel's blood", Netanyahu confronted his detractors. Israel's intention is to continue the war in Gaza until Hamas is no more. Recognizing Palestinian statehood, when its leaders continue to deny Israel's right of existence, when its leaders continue to incite to violence against Israel, when its leaders give financial rewards to those who attack and murder Jews, when its leaders teach its younger generation through school curricula, plays, television programs, poetry and music to hate Jews and aspire to become 'martyrs' against the Jewish state's existence, translates to awarding terrorism its goal. 

 

Palestinians rally beneath images of President Mahmoud Abbas and his predecessor, Yasser Arafat. Abbas Momani/AFP/Getty Images

 

The Smouldering Arab Middle East

Smoke rises in the aftermath of an Israeli airstrike in the northern part of the Gaza Strip, as viewed from the Israeli city of Sderot on Wednesday. (Ronaldo Schemidt/AFP/Getty Images)

"The [Arab] street to a large extent is now in charge."

"We were told for the last ten years that the Arab world and Muslim world didn't care about Palestine anymore, and Abraham Accords were proof of that."

"Well, Palestine has come back. I don't think it ever went away."

Bruce Riedel, senior fellow, Brookings Institution

"With 600,000 Americans in Israel and threats to other Americans across the region, it's hard to think of an evacuation that might compare to this in scale, scope ad complexity."

"The sort of advisories the State Department has put out lately have been fairly blunt."

Suzanne Maloney, director, foreign policy, Brookings Institution

"[A] broader escalation [is possible] in the days ahead. [Senior military leaders are taking] all necessary measures [to safeguard U.S. personnel]."

"We don't necessarily see that Iran has explicitly ordered them to take these kinds of attacks."

"That said, by virtue of the fact that they [varied terrorist groups serving as Iran's proxies] are supported by Iran, we will  ultimately hold Iran responsible."

Brig.-Gen. Patrick Ryder, spokesman, Pentagon

Israel Defense Forces spokesman  Lt. Col. Richard Hecht speaks to an auditorium full of journalists at a military base north of Tel Aviv, Oct. 23, 2023. CBS News/Cameron Stewart

 

As Israeli forces, supported by U.S. weapons and military advisers prepare for a widely anticipated ground offensive against the Hamas terrorists responsible for the cross-border attack of barbaric proportions that surprised Israel's intelligence and military apparatus, leading Israel to mount an offensive of wide proportions in Gaza, the operation is acknowledged to come with grave risks of reigniting hostilities from the greater Arab/Muslim region.

Addressing that fraught issue, unidentified officials have detailed internal deliberations from the American perspective; including that U.S. citizens living in Israel and Lebanon have become particularly concerning to the U.S. administration, even as it considers an evacuation of that magnitude to be a nightmarish worse-case scenario, that leads to hopes that alternate outcomes may be more likely to occur.

Evidently irrespective of the administration's vigorous public support for Israel, it is alarmed by the potential of escalation, forcing it to turn attention to complicated logistics involved of having to swiftly relocate large numbers of people. About 600,000 US. citizens are in Israel, with another 86,000 believed to be living in Lebanon at the time of the Hamas attack, in reflection of State Department estimates. Hezbollah, a proxy Iranian terrorist group deeply entrenched politically in Lebanon is of particular concern.

The Party of God, as they call themselves was originally formed by the Quds Division of the Iranian Republican Guard Corps, trained and armed and answerable to the Islamic Republic of Iran. Concerns are that it seems quite likely that Hezbollah, with its immense stockpile of technologically updated rockets could be drawn into attacking Israel from the north, and in the process a two-front war could erupt stretching Israeli forces. Initial skirmishes have already occurred along their shared border.

 

Hamas uses an elaborate network of tunnels for everything from storage to staging attacks, and they pose a big challenge for Israel. Tunnels change the war and make things more dangerous for the Israeli military and the Palestinians who live above them. Still from video CBC News

 

"This has become a real issue. The administration is very, very, very worried that this thing is going to get out of hand", cautioned one of the three in-the-know American officials who have spoken on condition of anonymity. Careful watch is being mounted on street protests spread across the Arab world, placing U.S. personnel and citizens in the region at heightened risk. The Gaza bombardment clearly inflaming regional fury with Israel and its purported treatment of Palestinians, once believed to have faded from public concern.

In the hopes of avoiding setting off a panic among Americans in the region, top American officials have refrained from discussing concerns and possible contingency plans publicly. The events of recent days, however, have shifted that posture, reflecting anxiety about other state actors entering the conflict. An advisory was issued last week by the State Department to all U.S. citizens worldwide "to exercise increased caution" reflecting "increased tensions in various locations around the world, the potential for terrorist attacks (and) demonstrations or violent actions against U.S. citizens and interests".

The Pentagon this week also signalled that it is bracing for a significant increase of attacks on US. troops stationed in the Middle East. Iran was singled out for its extensive sponsorship of terrorist groups with a history of using rockets and drones to target American military positions. In view of those concerns, Pentagon officials are surging additional missile-defence systems to the region.

The estimated 3,400 troops deployed in Iraq and Syria are considered to be particularly vulnerable as the situation unfolds; their deployment in Iraq and Syria saw U.S. personnel based close to the Jordanian border intercept two one-way attack drones. For years Americans operating in those countries were targeted by Iranian-backed militias. 

Extensive destruction at the Nuseirat refugee camp in the central Gaza Strip. Photograph: Adel al-Hwajre/ImagesLive/Zuma Press/Shutterstock

Celebrating "Friends, Love and Infinite Freedom" in Israel

"The event will take place in a powerful natural location full of trees stunning in its beauty and organized for your convenience, about an hour and a quarter south of Tel Aviv."

Publicity for The Tribe of Nova trance music festival

 

"We heard sirens and rockets, tons of rockets. We started running; we didn't now where to go. Nobody knew what to do."

"I took the car keys from a friend of mine that was really wasted and got as many people in the car as possible and started driving like crazy."

"The people who stayed, most of them got kidnapped or murdered."

"Every direction we ran we had more people shooting at us; we were running for two hours trying to escape. We started crawling in bushes. Eventually I realized I couldn't run anymore."

"We stayed silent and tried to reach the police. The police said they can't help us because too many people were kidnapped."

Millet Ben Haim, 27, music festival attendee, Israel

"We heard shots. There were cars with corpses on top of them that blocked the road. We couldn't get out."

"There were about seven to eight terrorists, and they started to shoot at us in our car."

"It's clear that there was a failure here. Now we need to get these people back who are missing. And to tell these people's stories."

Gal Raz, 31, music festival attendee, Israel

The aftermath of an attack on a music festival by Palestinian militants, near Kibbutz Reim in the Negev desert in southern Israel on October 8

 

It was billed as a night of dancing, a trance music festival, to celebrate "friends, love and infinite freedom". People were dancing, singing, the music thumped and thrummed. And just before dawn arcing through the sky over the thousands of revellers came the first rockets from Gaza, over the border. Many of the dancers took little notice of the explosions over the loud music. Accustomed to rockets from Gaza, others who did become aware shrugged them off. But not for long.

The music suddenly stopped. The thousands of young Israelis stopped dancing, snapping happy photos of the event and of each others' smiling faces. They felt a cold draft as a voice boomed over the loudspeakers over at the tented stages. "Guys, we have red alert" warned the voice. "Red alert!"

People swiftly began leaving, some jogging off, many looking at the white rocket flashes appearing in the sky just beginning to greet the dawn, as they ran. Videos showed they confused in appearance, but no one seemed to be panicking. Someone in black wearing a yellow safety vest directed crowds away from the stages. And soon the gunfire began. 

Located close to Kibbutz Re'im, the music festival became one of the initial targets the Hamas terrorists attacked in force, launching their surprise invasion of Israel in the early morning hours of Saturday as they overran the concert area, shooting into the crowd, pulling away as many hostages as they could manage. The terrorists had blocked roads, ambushed escaping cars, scouring the mostly open area for others to abduct.

When the ZAKA, an Israeli volunteer emergency response group arrived, they recovered an initial 260 bodies. Many people remain missing, according to the Israel Defense Forces. The figure has been put at over 100 by Israeli media, but it is growing, tragically. Hostages, states Hamas, are being held in tunnels and other secure locations in Gaza. If they are indeed being held in tunnels that will be an added complication since there will be plans to bomb the tunnels.

Survivors of the mass atrocity have been flooded with messages from other people frantically searching for their loved ones. Bodies were placed by the military in the back of a large refrigerated truck parked next to hundreds of abandoned cars. The shells of burned vehicles sat beside discarded tents, camping mats and coolers in one of the clearings. At a nearby intersection relatives searching for the missing said over a thousand people attended the event.  

Festivalgoers, however, estimate the true figure to be between 3,000 and 4,000 attendees. The exact location of the festival was not released until a few hours prior to the festival opening at 10 p.m. on Friday. Held five kilometres from the fence dividing Israel from the Gaza Strip, the festival was a ready target as the terrorists surged through a fence built with defensive materials and electronic devices, when explosives were used to blast through, enabling hordes of terrorists on foot, motorcycles and jeeps to enter Israel.

 

Instructions to attendees was to bring no firearms or sharp objects to the festival grounds. When the attack began, the ravers were tired, and defenceless, they were trapped in a wide-open area offering few places where they might conceal themselves from the relentless death-delivering search of the terrorists.  On the roads the terrorists were shooting at cars.

Those who tried to escape in their vehicles soon realized they couldn't get much further than a few hundred meters before they ran into groups of terrorists shooting at anything that moved. Abandoning their cars, the Israelis began running wildly, hoping to outrun their tormentors and find shelter somewhere, and as they ran passing vehicles with dead bodies. 

Ben Haim and her friends leaped out of their car and ran through the fields. Finally, she and two of her friends along with a stranger concealed themselves in a dense bush, covering their bodies with leaves. With her phone battery at two percent, after seven hours Ben Haim and her group were rescued by a local resident driving around with the intention of rescuing people. Raz was picked up eventually by the military.