Netanyahu starts UN speech pledging to counter 'slanders'

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu opened a UN General Assembly speech vowing to counter "slanders" at the world body, where many delegates immediately walked out.

"After I heard the lies and slanders leveled at my country by many of the speakers at this podium, I decided to come here and set the record straight," Netanyahu said.

Israeli PM says 'Hamas has got to go'

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said at the UN Friday that "Hamas has got to go" and would have no role in the reconstruction of Gaza as he vowed to fight until "total victory."

"If Hamas stays in power, it will regroup... and attack Israel again and again and again... So Hamas has got to go," Netanyahu said to diplomats gathered at the UN's New York headquarters.

Israel's Lebanon operations to continue until 'objectives' met: Netanyahu

"As long as Hezbollah chooses the path of war, Israel has no choice, and Israel has every right to remove this threat and return our citizens to their home safe," Netanyahu told the UN General Assembly, adding that operations against the militant group will "continue until we meet our objectives."

Netanyahu says UN has become 'contemptuous farce'

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Friday that the United Nations had become a "contemptuous farce" as he denounced the world body's unfair treatment of his country.

"I say to you, until Israel -- until the Jewish state -- is treated like other nations, until this anti-Semitic swamp is drained, the UN will be viewed by fair-minded people everywhere as nothing more than a contemptuous farce," he said.