We write to you with concern in advance of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s address to the 79th Session of the UN General Assembly on Friday, 27 September 2024, and ask that your delegation not attend the speech and walkout in protest. 

Without meaningful action by Member States, we know that Prime Minister Netanyahu will once again exploit this global platform to not only advance an ongoing campaign to undermine obligatory international law norms but to explicitly attempt to legitimize and justify Israel’s genocide of the Palestinian people and acts of aggression, such as the Israeli military’s dramatic escalation of violence against the people of Lebanon. At this moment, as Israeli attacks in Gaza have killed record numbers of UN staff, Prime Minister Netanyahu must be seen as a direct threat to both the lives of members of the UN community as well as the very functioning of the UN system and the ability of the international community to intervene in times of crisis. We ask that Member States refuse to attend his speech.

Read full letter here.