Empty seats for Israel. Standing ovations for terrorists.

Empty seats for Israel, ovations for the wrong people 

The United Nations is often a mirror of world politics: it does not reflect justice, but hypocrisy. That became clear once again when Benjamin Netanyahu delivered his address to the General Assembly a few days ago. Even before he had truly begun, dozens of delegations demonstratively walked out. A familiar scene: when Israel speaks, the world turns its back. When Israel warns against terror, empty chairs are preferred to listening. 

But those others who took the podium afterward were welcomed with open arms. Mahmoud Abbas, the man behind the system that rewards murderers with monthly stipends — internationally known as “slay for pay” — was free to deliver his usual tirade. The new president of Syria, a man accused by many of being directly involved in beheadings and other atrocities during the civil war, was received as though he were a respected statesman. And all this in a forum that supposedly upholds “peace and human rights.” As if a killer can suddenly be a moral authority, as long as he does not come from Israel. 

This is the absurdity of today’s UN: double standards in their purest form. Israel gets the whip of selective outrage, while the real perpetrators of terror and mass murder are applauded. 

Netanyahu’s message: clear and uncompromising 

Netanyahu knew exactly what awaited him. He did not come to New York for applause. His message was short and sharp: 

• Gaza can no longer be a safe haven for Hamas. 

• The hostages must return unconditionally. 

• Terrorism must never be rewarded with recognition or diplomatic prizes. 

Those who now recognize Palestine, while Hamas and Fatah glorify and finance terror, are deliberately siding with the murderers. That is not “building bridges” — it is legitimizing blood. 

Hypocrisy as international currency 

Hypocrisy has long been the real currency of the UN. Israel is condemned in endless resolutions, often with overwhelming majorities, while other states with proven genocides, war crimes, and systematic torture to their name are barely touched. 

Rwanda, Sudan, Iran, Syria, North Korea: all states with blood on their hands, and all states sitting on commissions and councils where Israel, the only democracy in the region, is systematically undermined. 

The result is grotesque: the same regimes that stone women, hang homosexuals, and make political dissidents disappear, raise their finger against the “inhumanity” of Israel. The fact that no Western capital feels even a trace of shame about this is perhaps the biggest scandal of all. 

Terrorist Abbas and the façade of legitimacy 

Take Mahmoud Abbas. This man is no apostle of peace, but a leader who has ruled for almost two decades without any democratic mandate. His regime pays generous stipends to imprisoned terrorists and their families. The more victims, the higher the payout. That system is not a footnote; it is the very core of the Palestinian Authority. Yet Abbas is welcomed time and again at the UN to accuse Israel of racism, apartheid, and colonialism. No one rises to confront him with the simple truth: it is his hands, not Israel’s, that are drenched in blood. 

A Syrian president with blood on his hands 

Or take Syria. The new president — accused of being directly involved in beheadings and other atrocities during the civil war — receives respect and diplomatic courtesy at the UN. No questions, no empty seats, no boycotts. The West politely applauds, as though a man who elsewhere would be branded a terrorist or war criminal is suddenly a legitimate diplomat. 

Realism over wishful thinking 

Netanyahu’s harsh tone contrasted starkly with the soft wishful thinking of many Western leaders. He knows: peace does not come by rewarding blood. Peace with Egypt and Jordan came when those countries chose stability over ideology. The Abraham Accords were possible because parties became pragmatic. But Hamas, Hezbollah, and even Abbas’s PA have no interest in peace. Their politics depend on conflict, hatred, and victimhood. 

Anyone who believes this can be solved with diplomatic recognition is living in a fairy tale. It is as if, in the 1940s, Hitler had been given a seat in the League of Nations in the hope he would calm down. 

Who was he speaking to? 

The cynic will say: Netanyahu spoke for the cameras. But that is not true. He spoke for Israeli citizens who on October 7, 2023, woke up to a nightmare of mass killings, rapes, and kidnappings. He spoke for the families still waiting for their loved ones. He spoke for Jews worldwide who increasingly feel intimidated by a wave of antisemitism disguised as “criticism of Israel.” 

And he spoke — perhaps without the empty chairs realizing it — also for the West. For the fight against Hamas, Hezbollah, and Iran is not an “Israeli problem.” It is the frontline of a broader battle against extremism that threatens Europe and America just as much. 

The illusion of moral superiority 

What truly stings is the self-righteousness of the international community. Nations that call themselves progressive, nations that at home parade human rights and inclusivity, stand shoulder to shoulder at the UN with the worst violators of those very rights — as long as the common enemy is Israel. 

They condemn Israeli soldiers defending themselves against rockets fired from schools and hospitals, while ignoring Hamas’s deliberate use of children as human shields. They complain about “disproportionality,” but stay silent when terror groups launch rockets at civilians. They demand Israel show endless “restraint,” but never demand Hamas simply stop killing. 

Double standards, again and again 

This is no longer a policy debate; it is a structural pattern. Israel is judged by an absurd moral standard that applies to no other country. No democracy in the world is scrutinized in this way: not the United States in Iraq, not France in Mali, not Russia in Chechnya (and Russia is not even a democracy). Only Israel is condemned for refusing to allow its own destruction. 

A small state with a big voice 

And yet — despite the empty seats, despite the hypocrisy, despite the hostility — Netanyahu spoke with a force that was hard to ignore. His country will continue to exist, continue to speak, continue to act. Israel may be small in size, but it is immense in determination. It knows the world often prefers to look away, but that changes nothing on the ground. 

That is why this speech was more than a ritual address. It was a reminder that Israel does not bow to selective outrage. That it will continue to defend its citizens, regardless of what is said in New York or Brussels. And perhaps that is the greatest lesson for those who still believe moral double standards are a strategy: Israel will not be intimidated by hypocrisy — and that should inspire us all.