In Empty Hall, Netanyahu Denies a Genocide the World is Watching

There was a surreal quality to Benjamin Netanyahu denying genocide in a nearly empty hall, as the evidence of the catastrophe in Gaza continues to be broadcast on screens around the world. His rhetorical defense at the UN clashed with the widely-seen reality of flattened cities and a starving population.
“Would a country committing genocide plead with the civilian population… to get out of harm’s way?” he asked. Yet, this question was posed in a context where human rights groups have documented Israeli strikes on evacuation routes and safe zones, and where the ICC is probing war crimes.
The diplomats who walked out did so not just because of a political disagreement, but because for many of their countries, the scale of death and destruction has become morally indefensible. They are no longer willing to listen to justifications that seem so disconnected from the facts on the ground.
The scene encapsulated the modern condition of conflict: a leader can stand in the world’s most august chamber and construct a narrative, but that narrative is instantly tested against a flood of images and reports from the conflict zone itself. In this case, the world watched one reality, while Netanyahu described another.