Netanyahu’s speech certainly didn’t make him any friends and was directed primarily to Israelis, says Marwan Bishara, a senior political analyst at Al Jazeera.
“He sure made no friends today, but he did make a lot of enemies. Even those who had to leave the hall because they were under pressure from certain other members would not take it kindly that he called them cowards,” Bishara told Al Jazeera.
“Unlike his previous two speeches that were addressed to the international community and President Trump, this very particular speech during election time in Israel was addressed to … Israelis,” said Bishara, speaking from London.
In other words, “he was talking at the UN delegates, but he was talking to the Israeli public” in the run-up to the country’s elections next month.
What is interesting is that he even attacked Western nations, Bishara said, posing the question: “How can you claim to defend Western civilisation when you’re attacking the French and the British and the Europeans?”
Bishara continued, “When you say that they came up with the concept of colonialism, well, in fact, if they did come with the concept of colonialism, they should know it when they see it. And they’ve been saying again and again that Israel is a colonial power when it comes to the Israel-Palestine issue”.
The only friend Netanyahu perhaps made with his speech was Trump, whom he needs “because if he doesn’t have the United States on his side, he probably has no one on his side,” concluded Bishara.