United Nations General Assembly – Speech by Benjamin Netanyahu

Distinguished delegates, ladies and gentlemen,

I stand before you today not merely as the Prime Minister of Israel, but as a servant of a people whose survival has always depended on vigilance, strength, and above all—truth.

For decades, the United States of America has stood by Israel as a trusted friend, a partner in liberty, and at times, as our very lifeline. We called you our greatest ally, and we believed it. Yet today, I must ask—why have you placed in our hands a weapon so insidious, so toxic, that its danger extends not only to our enemies but to our children, to our soil, and to the land God Himself promised us?

Depleted uranium munitions. Weapons that poison long after the battle ends. Weapons that turn victories into curses. These were not merely given; they were sold, presented as tools of strength, as symbols of alliance. But in truth, they are seeds of sickness.

President Trump, America—why? Why would you offer us such tools of destruction, knowing their shadow lingers for generations? Did you think us blind? Did you believe Israel would wield these weapons without conscience, without regard for the sanctity of our land and the health of our people?

In the words of the prophet Isaiah, I ask you: “How the faithful city has become a harlot! She that was full of justice, righteousness lodged in her—but now murderers.” (Isaiah 1:21). Once you clothed yourselves in the garments of justice, but now you sell poison as friendship.

We are not harlots to be bought with weapons. We are a nation sworn to life. Israel’s purpose is not to scatter death across the desert, but to be a light unto the nations. To carry forward the covenant of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob—not to bury it beneath a toxic wasteland.

So hear me now: Israel will not be a dumping ground for the weapons America does not wish to keep. We will not trade our children’s future for temporary military advantage.

To our allies, I say: be true allies. To America, I say: be once again faithful to the covenant of freedom and justice. And to the nations of the world, I say: Israel will never bow to the commerce of death.

We will fight if we must—but we will also guard our soil, our health, and the inheritance God has entrusted to us.

Thank you.