By: Explained DeskNew Delhi | Updated: September 27, 2025 05:54 PM IST 3 min readIsraeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu addressed the UN General Assembly on Friday. (Photo: Reuters)Dozens of officials and diplomats walked out in protest before Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu gave a speech on Friday (September 26) at the United Nations General Assembly.In his speech, Netanyahu vowed to “finish the job” of eliminating Hamas in Gaza and slammed other nations for recognising Palestinian statehood.Here are some of the previous instances of delegates walking out during UN speeches.2025: RUSSIADignitaries walked out of Russia’s speech to the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva in support of Ukraine in February this year.The delegates, including the ambassadors of France, Germany and Britain, gathered outside the room where the session was taking place to mark three years since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.Simon Manley, Britain’s Ambassador to the UN and World Trade Organization, told Reuters, “Our support for Ukraine is ironclad. We want to see a just and enduring peace in line with the UN charter.”2024: ISRAELNetanyahu previously faced a walk-out last year during his General Assembly speech. Delegates left the auditorium to protest Israel’s war on Gaza and attacks on Lebanon. At the time, the war was approaching its one-year mark.2022: RUSSIAStory continues below this adIn March 2022, around 100 diplomats walked out of a speech by Russia’s Foreign Minister at the UN Human Rights Council in protest over his country’s invasion of Ukraine. The walkout included envoys from the European Union, US, United Kingdom and others.Ukraine’s ambassador to the United Nations in Geneva led the walkout.2011: IRANDiplomats walked out in September 2011 after then Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad at the UN attacked the US and other major powers as militarist, imperialist and unfit to dominate global governance.Ahmadinejad also referred to the “mysterious September 11 incident” as a pretext to attack Afghanistan and Iraq. The walk-out was led by the diplomats of the US.Story continues below this adAlso in Explained | How Osama bin Laden became the world’s most dreaded terrorist2010: IRANUS diplomats and other Western delegations walked out of a UN summit in September 2010 as Ahmadinejad said some believe the 9/11 attacks on the US was the work of Americans to save Israel.The walk-out was led by two US officials. They were followed by the British and other Western delegations.Ahmadinejad said there was a theory that “some segments within the US government orchestrated the attack to reverse the declining American economy and its grip on the Middle East in order also to save the Zionist regime.”© The Indian Express Pvt LtdTags:Explained GlobalExpress Explained