Netanyahu blasts Erdogan as ‘tyrant’ in fiery UNGA speech

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu spoke to the UN General Assembly on Thursday evening.

During the speech, Netanyahu defended Israel from accusations of genocide, praised US President Donald Trump for his support, and attacked Iran and Qatar for funding anti-Israel propaganda.

However, Netanyahu reserved his sharpest comments for Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, calling him a "tyrant" and a "super spreader of antisemitic lies."

"Erdogan is a tyrant. He hosts Hamas in Turkey. He has murdered thousands of Kurdish civilians. He denies the Armenian genocide. He jails journalists and opposition leaders," Netanyahu said. "He illegally occupies Northern Cyprus and EU member and he regularly transgresses against Greece. Now he wants to take over Syria."

Netanyahu's focus on Turkey's occupation of Cyprus and transgressions against Greece is particularly timely, as he met with Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis immediately before the speech.

Erdogan "says he's going to be the ruler of Jerusalem. No, sir. You won't. This is our country, our city, our eternal capital," Netanyahu continued.

Netanyahu also addressed the mass exit by delegates at the beginning of the speech, saying "Israel is also defending many of the countries whose delegates just left this hall. In fact, I want you to know that many of their leaders even thank us privately for taking out Iran's nukes."

"It's hard to imagine more mind blowing hypocrisy," Netanyahu said, "but that's exactly what it is."

Netanyahu downplayed settler violence, calling it "a handful of young juvenile delinquents, about 150 in number, who go, who throw stones, who chop down olive trees. Occasionally they light some fires."

Although he downplayed the scale of the violence, he condemned it, saying that he wouldn't stand for vigilantism: "I can't stand that. I won't stand for vigilantism. We're a country of law. So we put our Shin Bet on them. But that's what they call settler violence."

But he said the number of people injured by settler violence was minimal compared with the number killed or injured by Palestinian violence.