Delegations walk out as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu addresses the 80th United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) at UN headquarters in New York City, US, Sept. 26, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Shannon Stapleton

Dozens of United Nations delegates staged a massive walkout in protest of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s speech before the UN General Assembly on Friday, underscoring what many observers have long described as the international body’s bias against the Jewish state. 

Delegates’ rejection of Netanyahu stood in sharp contrast to the warm reception Palestinian Authority (PA) President Mahmoud Abbas received in his virtual address on Thursday.

Most of the crowd had been nearly emptied by the time Netanyahu began his speech. 

During his remarks, Netanyahu condemned Western nations for recognizing Palestinian statehood and vowed to continue the war in Gaza until the Hamas terrorist group is completely dismantled. 

“We’re not done yet,” Netanyahu said. “The final elements, 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. That is why we want to do so as fast as possible.”

“Free the hostages now! If you do, you will live. If you don’t, Israel will hunt you down,” he added, referring to those still being held in captivity in Gaza who were kidnapped during Hamas’s Oct. 7, 2023, invasion of and massacre across southern Israel.

France, the UK, Canada, Portugal, Australia, and a few other countries formally recognized a “State of Palestine” over the past week, breaking with decades of Western diplomatic hesitation and signaling deepening frustration with Israel’s war against Hamas in Gaza. 

Netanyahu’s comments regarding the recognition of Palestinian statehood echo those of several high-profile US officials, including Secretary of State Marco Rubio. Rubio has lambasted the declarations as “reckless.”

During Abbas’s speech, the Palestinian leader falsely accused Israel of committing a “genocide” in Gaza and claimed that the PA should be handed control of the Gaza Strip. He also argued that “Palestine” should be granted “full membership” within the UN.

“Palestine is ours. Jerusalem is the jewel of our hearts and our eternal capital. We will not leave our homeland. We will not leave our lands,” Abbas said.

The PA, which has long been riddled with accusations of corruption, has also maintained for years a so-called “pay-for-slay” program, which rewards terrorists and their families for carrying out attacks against Israelis. Under the policy, the PA makes official payments to Palestinian prisoners held in Israeli jails, the families of “martyrs” killed in attacks on Israelis, and injured Palestinian terrorists. Reports estimate that approximately 8 percent of the PA’s budget has been allocated to paying stipends to convicted terrorists and their families.

A poll released earlier this year by the Palestinian Center for Policy and Survey Research (PCPSR) found that, if an agreement is reached to end the Gaza war, only 40 percent of Palestinians (46 percent in Gaza and 37 percent in the West Bank, where the PA exercises limited self-governance) “support the return of the PA to managing the affairs of the Gaza Strip and providing for the requirements of daily life and responsibility for reconstruction,” while 56 percent oppose it. The poll also showed that, among the Palestinian people in both Gaza and the West Bank, just 23 percent are “satisfied” with the PA’s performance, while an even smaller 15 percent expressed satisfaction with Abbas and a mere 24 percent did so for Abbas’s ruling Fatah party.

Demonstrators attend the “Lift The Ban” rally organized by Defend Our Juries, challenging the British government’s proscription of “Palestine Action” under anti-terrorism laws, in Parliament Square, in London, Britain, Sept. 6, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Carlos Jasso

A British doctor under investigation for hundreds of antisemitic social media posts, including calls for the ethnic cleansing of Jews, has been allowed to continue practicing while the General Medical Council, the body that regulates doctors in the UK, investigates her conduct.

Dr. Rahmeh Aladwan, a trauma and orthopedics specialist and former member of Palestine Action before its proscription as a terrorist organization, is at the center of one of the latest cases of antisemitic hatred within the UK’s health-care system.

In her social media accounts, Aladwan has repeatedly spread anti-Jewish rhetoric, echoing deeply rooted antisemitic stereotypes and conspiracy theories, including claims that the UK is controlled by “Jewish supremacy” and that the Royal Free Hospital in London, where she works, is a “Jewish Supremacy Cesspit.”

She has also refused to condemn the Hamas-led invasion of and massacre across southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, instead spreading false claims of Israeli genocide and denying the Jewish state’s right to exist.

“I don’t condemn Hamas. I don’t condemn Oct. 7. I don’t condemn armed resistance to Occupation. I condemn Israel,” Aladwan wrote in one of her social media posts.

“I am not trying to be unreasonable, but every f**;ing settler will leave Palestine. It’s not for liberal Jewish supremacists (Zionists) or their enablers to decide that Palestinians must live with their land thieves, murderers and rapists,” she said in a different post.

In one of her most recent posts, the medical professional also wrote: “Let’s make this crystal clear: anti-Zionism means ‘Israel’ has no right to exist. No debates. No exceptions. ‘Israel’ is genocide. Its supporters are genocidal — and that includes over 90% of Jews on earth.”

On Thursday, the Medical Practitioners Tribunal Service (MPTS), the UK authority responsible for overseeing doctors’ professional conduct, ruled that Aladwan is fit to continue practicing medicine while the investigation into her continues.

The tribunal found that she had done nothing to “undermine public confidence in the medical profession” and that her antisemitic rhetoric against British Jews did not “amount to bullying or harassment,” citing her right to freedom of expression under the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR).

Following the ruling, social media footage showed Aladwan outside the tribunal, joined by anti-Israel activists waving Palestinian flags in celebration.

“I want to thank the MPTS panel, for making the right decision and not persecuting me for my political speech and most importantly my speech that is aimed at stopping the Holocaust of Palestinians in Gaza … I am very grateful that I was not used as an example today to silence my fellow health-care workers in Britain,” Aladwan said.

The British charity Campaign Against Antisemitism (CAA) strongly condemned the tribunal’s decision, describing such a ruling as neglecting its responsibility to safeguard the public.

“This is an inexplicable and disgraceful decision — one that marks the UK’s continued descent into the abyss, as institutions that carry the responsibility for protecting people from extremists are seemingly bending over backwards to appease and turn a blind eye to them,” the statement read.

“The MPTS has failed spectacularly in its duty. It is staggering that it believes that a doctor who appears to defend armed jihad and violent attacks on Jews, posted a photo of a Hamas terrorist and described a hospital as a ‘cesspit of Jewish supremacy’ should continue to practice,” it continued.

This latest incident follows a case in which a North London hospital suspended a physician who was under investigation for publicly claiming that all Jews have “feelings of supremacy” and downplaying antisemitism.

Earlier this week, Whittington Hospital in Highgate, a suburb of London, suspended Dr. Ellen Kriesels, a consultant in developmental pediatrics, after several of her antisemitic statements went viral.

“Virtually every Jew has some feelings of supremacy (result of their Zionist upbringing) and they might oppose Zionism, but they are not going to challenge their precious community. That just doesn’t feel right to them!” Kriesels wrote in one of her social media posts.

“Always trying to frame the Jews as victims. So ridiculous. So exhausting,” she added in a different post following the Oct. 7 atrocities.

These antisemitic incidents in UK hospitals reflect a wider pattern across Europe, where rising antisemitism within health-care settings has left Jewish communities feeling unsafe and marginalized.

Last month, for example, two medical workers in Italy filmed themselves discarding Israeli-made medicine in protest against the Jewish state at their workplace.

A doctor and a nurse who work at a community hospital in Pratovecchio Stia, near Arezzo in Tuscany, posted on social media the video of dramatically throwing away products from Teva Pharmaceuticals, an Israeli company.

In the Netherlands, police opened an investigation into Batisma Chayat Sa’id, a nurse who allegedly stated she would administer lethal injections to Israeli patients.

In Belgium, a hospital suspended a physician after discovering antisemitic content on his social media, including a cartoon showing babies being decapitated by the tip of a Star of David and an AI-generated image depicting Hasidic Jews as vampires poised to devour a sleeping baby.

The doctor came under fire after he recently diagnosed a nine-year-old patient by listing “Jewish (Israeli)” as one of her medical problems on his report.

In Australia, two nurses filmed themselves bragging online about refusing to treat Israelis, making throat-slitting gestures, and boasting of killing Jews. Both lost their licenses and now face criminal charges.

US President Donald Trump speaks at the White House in Washington, DC, US, Sept. 25, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque

Israelis were divided after US President Donald Trump declared on Thursday that he would not allow annexation of the West Bank, with some warning that blocking sovereignty could endanger national security and even risk another attack similar to the Hamas-led Oct. 7, 2023, invasion, while others argued the decision spared the country a costly international confrontation.

But legal scholar Eugene Kontorovich told The Algemeiner that Trump’s wording was being misunderstood, and that his remarks may still leave space for Israel to extend partial sovereignty in the West Bank, part of the ancestral Jewish homeland where the Palestinian Authority (PA) exercises limited self-governance.

Right-wing lawmakers, many of whom entered Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s coalition on promises of sovereignty, condemned Trump’s remarks as outside interference and urged Netanyahu to press ahead regardless.

“Israel is a sovereign state. No international actor, even a great beloved friend, can dictate to us how to treat our land,” Likud MK Dan Illouz said.

Zvi Sukkot of the Religious Zionism party argued that sovereignty “does not depend on any external factor, however friendly.” Another unnamed senior official went further, telling Hebrew media that Trump’s remarks amounted to “a real terror attack.”

Trump told reporters in the Oval Office on Thursday that he had also vetoed the idea of annexation in a closed-door conversation with Netanyahu. 

“I will not allow Israel to annex the West Bank. It’s not going to happen,” he said. “There’s been enough. It’s time to stop now.”

Kontorovich, who has long argued that the debate is being mischaracterized, noted that the term “annexation” itself is misleading. 

“Annexation implies taking territory that isn’t yours,” he told The Algemeiner. “What Israel has discussed is applying its civil law to parts of Area C in the West Bank that are already under Israeli jurisdiction. The Israeli government has made it clear it is not talking about diminishing the territory governed by the Palestinian Authority.”

Area C is the portion of the West Bank where Israel assumed full civilian and military control after the Oslo Accords, an agreement between Israeli and Palestinian authorities, three decades ago.

Trump’s comments on Thursday, Kontorovich argued, were not necessarily incompatible with Israeli mainstream positions. 

“The most literal understanding of Trump’s remarks is that he doesn’t want Israel to take over the entire West Bank. Since nobody is talking about that, it leaves room for other possibilities,” Kontorovich said.

Kontorovich suggested that applying Israeli law to major settlement blocs would be “a meaningful way to push back on the extremely harmful and dangerous British and French diplomatic efforts” to recognize a Palestinian state, while also improving Israel’s security “in a way that will redound to American benefit.”

Former Israeli Ambassador to Washington Michael Oren struck a more cautious note in comments to The Algemeiner, noting that Trump had “long opposed annexation of all or part” of the West Bank, but added that “annexation would be a justifiable response to the Palestinian Authority’s violation of its commitment under the Oslo Accords not to unilaterally change the status of the territories.” He echoed Kontorovich’s view that “annexation can certainly help meet Israel’s security needs.”

However, Oren warned that, “increasingly isolated internationally and facing serious threats of sanctions, Israel is extremely dependent on Trump’s support. We must be careful not to jeopardize it.”

Notably, both Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich and National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, who have long promoted annexation and even branded 2025 as “the year of sovereignty,” did not respond publicly to Trump’s remarks. Days earlier, however, Smotrich echoed Illouz, saying, “The days when other nations decided our future are over.”

Yossi Dagan, head of the Samaria Regional Council, argued that only formal sovereignty could prevent the emergence of a “terrorist state” in the West Bank.

“[Netanyahu] must tell Trump: We will not allow another Oct. 7 — I am applying sovereignty,” he said prior to Trump’s comments.  

Kontorovich, who is a senior research fellow at the Washington DC-based Heritage Foundation, also emphasized deterrence. 

“Right now, Palestinian terrorists think that committing an Oct. 7 attack is a net winner. To discourage that, you need to create a disincentive, and an Israeli application of sovereignty to parts of the West Bank is a way of doing that,” he said. 

Some voices on the political right offered a different take. Israel Hayom columnist Ariel Kahana wrote that Trump “saved Israel from itself,” arguing that such a move at this point could trigger severe diplomatic and economic consequences. He added that Trump’s decision now gives Netanyahu a “crushing answer” to coalition partners who keep pressing for sovereignty. 

Kahana faulted the settlement movement for not offering a trade of shelving sovereignty in exchange for France – which led European nations in recognizing a Palestinian state at the UN — dropping its recognition of “Palestine,” saying Israel is now left with the worst of both outcomes: recognition of a Palestinian state abroad and no sovereignty at home.

Both Trump and Netanyahu lambasted the decision by a handful of Western countries — including France, the UK, Canada, and Australia — to officially recognize a Palestinian state, describing the move as a reward for Hamas’s terrorism and an invitation for Palestinians to continue waging war against Israel. Neither leader addressed the issue of potential West Bank annexation during their addresses to the United Nations General Assembly in New York this week.

After his meeting with Trump on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly, during which he declared recognition of a Palestinian state, French President Emmanuel Macron told France24 that when it came to the West Bank “the Europeans and the Americans are on the same page,” adding that “annexation was a red line for the US.”

Macron further warned that annexation would carry “grave consequences” for Israel and has made it clear that Paris sees a ban on sovereignty moves as essential to keeping the two-state option of resolving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict alive.

Ynet analysts reached a similar conclusion to Kahana, noting that Trump’s declaration “in some sense helps Netanyahu with his base and the extremists in his government,” since it relieves him of rejecting coalition demands directly.

Emirati officials told Washington earlier this month that annexation would inflict serious damage on the Abraham Accords and threaten the entire framework of Gulf-Israel ties. The UAE, which signed a normalization deal with Israel during Trump’s first term, has consistently viewed annexation as a major violation of the bargains that underpinned that agreement.

Israeli journalist and commentator Yair Sherki stressed that this is precisely why Trump cannot allow annexation to proceed. Even if Netanyahu were prepared to risk the Abraham Accords for sovereignty, Sherki noted, Trump will not — because the accords are his own signature achievement in the region.

Sherki added that postponement of a sovereignty declaration until after Netanyahu meets Trump on the sidelines of the UN “signals a fizzling out. If it doesn’t happen by the end of the [Sukkot] holidays, it won’t happen.”

Kontorovich concluded that applying Israeli civil law to the Jordan Valley — an area with virtually no Palestinian presence and long supported even by centrist and left-leaning lawmakers — could be one such option. “If Israel applies its civil law to the Jordan Valley, I don’t think anyone could say that it annexed the West Bank,” he said.