UNGA Walkout on Israeli PM: Seven times delegates walked out to protest controversial leaders

On Friday, scores of delegates walked out of the General Assembly hall of the United Nations in New York in protest when Israel’s Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, took the stage.

This walkout is the latest public protest against Israel from an audience of world leaders who are demanding an end to Israel’s war on Gaza.

The historic move comes after persistent calls for Israel to stop its genocidal war in Gaza and commit to a long-term sustainable peace process that delivers a two-state solution and allows more aid into the enclave.

Countries such as the UK, Canada, Australia, France, and Portugal are among the most recent to recognise Palestinian statehood officially.

According to Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney, the decision to recognise Palestine was intended to pave the way for a two-state solution.

But Mr Netanyahu, in his speech, vowed to stop the creation of an independent Palestinian country, calling it a national suicide for Israel.

As the leaders walked out, Mr Netanyahu spoke, facing empty seats in the hall, highlighting the country’s isolation on the global stage. Support for the government has waned.

Although a historic move, this is not the first time leaders have staged a walkout at the UN.

For years, this has been a recurring form of protest among UN member states against widely contentious leaders.

In this report, PREMIUM TIMES identifies seven instances where world leaders staged a walkout at the UN in the past.

Israel at UNGA 2024

The experience on Friday is not Mr Netanyahu’s first. At the 2024 UN General Assembly, delegates walked out when he got on the stage in protest of the devastating war in Gaza and the Israeli attacks on Lebanon.

At that point, the Israel-Hamas conflict was approaching its one-year mark, and Israel’s attack on Lebanon had been relentless, killing more than 700 people, including scores of women and children.

As Mr Netanyahu entered to speak at the year’s UN General Assembly, several diplomats walked out, with the presiding diplomat having to shout, “Order, please.”

Mr Netanyahu was reported to be visibly angered due to the mass walkout as he defended his response to the 7 October Hamas-led attacks on southern Israel and the escalatory attacks on Lebanon.

His speech was also replete with dire warnings that further carnage could be on the way.

Russia at the UN conference

In 2022, at the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva, delegates walked out in protest of Russia’s war in Ukraine.

This occurred after the first walkout from the Conference on Disarmament meeting. An event that the UN body uses to stem the international arms race.

Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov had been unable to physically attend the meetings due to EU sanctions that ban Russian aircraft from European airspace.

However, when he began speaking by video from Moscow, diplomats, led by those from Ukraine, the EU, the US, and Britain, walked out of the meetings.

Very few delegations remained after the Human Rights Council walkout. They include delegates from countries like China, Syria, Tunisia, Venezuela, and Yemen.

Russia again at 2025 UN conference

This same action reoccurred at this year’s UN Human Rights Council meeting, also in Geneva.

Some delegates, including the ambassadors of France, Germany, and Britain, gathered outside the meeting hall to mark three years since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

The Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Vershinin, in his speech, accused Ukraine of “Russophobia” and human rights violations.

“Securing human rights and freedoms is incompatible with double standards,” he said.

In response, Ukraine stated that Russia was defying international law.

“The aggressor should be punished, aggression should not be rewarded,” it declared at the meeting.

Meanwhile, the US seat at the council was vacant due to President Donald Trump’s decision to withdraw from the body.

African and Arab delegates against gay rights

Another striking protest by member states at the United Nations was carried out by delegates from African and Arab states against the protection of gay and lesbian rights.

This occurred in 2012 during a debate on requiring all governments to guarantee protections for gays and lesbians.

During the UN Human Rights Council panel session, the then UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon had raised concern about the welfare of gays and lesbians across the world, and told diplomats that the group was entitled to protection from all governments.

“We see a pattern of violence and discrimination directed at people just because they are gay, lesbian, bisexual, or transgender,” Mr Ki-moon said.

But representatives of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), alongside those of Arab and African countries, kicked against it, describing these sexual orientations as licentious and immoral.

These countries said attempts to impose a Western stance on sexual orientation on every country would undermine the discussion of other human rights problems.

Delegates from Nigeria also walked out of the chamber, asserting that no Nigerian citizen experienced violence due to their sexual orientation.

Iran’s 2011 speech

Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s speech at the 2011 UN General Assembly also prompted a diplomatic walkout from US and European delegations.

The former Iranian President had accused the US and its allies of threatening anyone who questioned the Holocaust and the 11 September 2001 attacks with sanctions and military actions.

He criticised the US for killing Al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden and burying his body at sea, arguing that the militant leader should have been brought to trial.

He also accused Europe of using the Holocaust as an excuse for supporting Israel’s questionable actions.

The speech also included a broad denunciation of what he called the Western “hypocrisy and deceit.”

He accused the US of permitting drug trafficking and murder because it favoured its imperialistic goal.

Iran at the UN assembly in 1980

But this was not an isolated case for Iran. For several years in a row, US diplomats walked out during Iran’s UN remarks.

In some cases, they skipped his speech altogether.

However, one of the earliest walkouts by the US on Iran was in 1980. This had been the highlight of the four-day event, according to The Washington Post.

It occurred during the General Assembly’s special emergency debate on Palestine, just as the then Iranian ambassador to Kuwait, Ali Shams Ardekani, walked to the podium to denounce the US as an “enemy of peace on earth.”

The US delegates walked out to protest for the 66 Americans, including diplomats and other civilian personnel, held hostage by Iranian students for a year and a half.

The Iranian hostage crisis was fueled by anger at US support for the Shah, Mohammad Pahlavi, who ruled for decades before he was overthrown.

It was also a protest against American imperialism in Iran.

When the Iranian delegate took the floor, the US deputy Mission chief, Vanden Heuvel, led the walkout.

Another US diplomat at the time, William Heuvel, said, “We owed it to the hostages.”

The hostages were released in January 1981.

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South Africa at UNCTAD in 1968

A striking walkout was made in 1968, and it was against apartheid South Africa.

This took place at the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) in New Delhi, India.

South Africa, at the time, was under apartheid, a system of racial segregation and oppression, which made its international presence controversial.

According to a report by Reuters, many African, Asian, and “communist countries” opposed South Africa’s apartheid regime and did not want to legitimise its government by listening to its delegate.

The South African delegate, William Naudé, attempted to deliver his policy address three times without success.

Each time, delegates walked out of the hall, leaving the room without a quorum —the minimum number of delegates needed to conduct official business.

Only Ghanaian delegates stayed, apparently ignoring the political tension and reading newspapers instead.

“Every time Mr Naude spoke, they (Ghanaians) rose to point out the lack of quorum, and he had to stop,” a part of the report read.

On his fourth attempt, however, the acting president of the conference allowed Mr Naudé to speak so the conference could continue.