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(NEW YORK) — An unapologetic Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu addressed the United Nations General Assembly on Thursday, defending Israeli military actions in the Middle East while going on the attack against his political enemies. 

“Devastating Iran’s nuclear facilities was hard. It was very hard to do. But for me, it was one of the easiest decisions I’ve ever had to make as prime minister,” Netanyahu asserted during his speech. “Because if we hadn’t done it, we’d all be dead!” 

The atmosphere in the hall shifted sharply before the prime minister’s speech began. As he approached the podium, the room erupted in chants, cheers and boos as dozens of delegates from various countries walked out in protest. 

“Before I begin, just a quick announcement: if there are any other moral cowards who haven’t yet left this hall, please do so now,” Netanyahu said in response. 

The Israeli prime minister claimed that the leaders of many of the countries whose delegations exited had privately thanked him for hitting Iran’s nuclear sites, calling it “mind-blowing hypocrisy.” 

Netanyahu used much of his lengthy speech to criticize his political opponents for spreading what he said were lies about Israel and fomenting hatred against Jews, calling foreign governments and world leaders out by name.

The prime minister also zeroed in on New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani, calling him antisemitic for asserting Israel’s response to Hamas’ Oct. 7 terrorist attack amounts to genocide. 

“Shame on you for distorting the facts. Shame on you for inverting victim and aggressor. Shame on you for spitting in the face of truth,” he said. “Mr. Mamdani, since you were elected mayor of this city, many jews no longer feel safe in New York.” 

Mamdani responded by accusing Netanyahu of spreading “baseless lies meant to sanitize his genocide of Palestinians.”

“Yet no lie can change the fact that he remains the subject of an International Criminal Court arrest warrant alleging war crimes and crimes against humanity,” the mayor said in a statement. 

Netanyahu is expected to spend less than a day in the U.S. and return to Israel without meeting with President Trump, a stark departure from recent precedent that comes as the relationship between the two leaders has become increasingly strained. 

But despite recent tension, the prime minister heaped praise on Trump — extolling his leadership and declaring that Israel had “no greater partner” in its “battle against the barbarians.” 

Earlier on Thursday, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas addressed the assembly through a video message recorded in his Ramallah office because the Trump administration declined to grant him and other Palestinian officials visas to travel to New York for the gathering. 

In his remarks, Abbas said Palestinians were facing a “genocidal war” and urged the international community to do more to confront Israel. 

“How long will some countries continue to remain silent about Israel, or continue supplying it with weapons that it uses against our people? he asked. 

“We will not leave our homeland. We will not accept displacement. And we will not allow anyone to decide our future on our behalf,” Abbas said.

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(WASHINGTON) — After a week in which more Republicans have emerged to call for an end to the war in Iran, the Senate failed to adopt a House-passed war powers resolution on Thursday by a vote of 49-50.

Republican Sens. Lisa Murkowski, Susan Collins, Rand Paul and Thom Tillis joined all but one Democrat, Sen. John Fetterman, in voting in favor of the resolution. Democratic Sen. Angela Alsobrooks did not vote. Democrats would’ve needed full attendance and five Republicans to vote with them in order for the resolution to pass.

The vote underscores the political tightrope vulnerable Republicans are attempting to walk with a little over a month until the midterm elections. While some Republican senators have grown increasingly critical of the war and its impact on diesel and gasoline prices, they have also stopped short of supporting measures that could directly challenge President Donald Trump’s policy.

For example, Republican Sen. Jon Husted, who is in a close race up against Democratic candidate Sherrod Brown, told POLITICO this week that the “war needs to come to an end as quickly as possible so that we can lower gas prices,” before voting against the war powers resolution on Thursday. Other Republicans who are also in tight reelection races voted to kill the resolution including Sens. Dan Sullivan and Roger Marshall.

Democrats did however pick up another Republican during this vote: Tillis, who voted for the resolution for the first time, citing a lack of concrete information on a solution to end the war.

“On July 10th, I heard the administration refer to the conflict in Iran as a war for the first time, and I arbitrarily use that date to say ‘I need to be briefed up over the next 60 days to be convinced that we’re tracking in the right direction.’ And the first outreach I got was last week,” Tillis said ahead of Thursday’s vote.

“They need to inform Congress more. They need to be clear on their strategic objectives, and they need to be more engaged. At least to the Armed Services Committee,” Tillis said, adding “the reason I’m inclined to vote on it today is to say, ‘it is time to engage Congress, folks, if we’re going to be there for the long term.'”

Trump initially estimated the war in Iran would last four to six weeks. Instead it’s nearing its eighth month and 50,000 American service members remain deployed in the region. Eighteen U.S. service members have been killed and over 800 wounded since the U.S. and Israel launched strikes against Iran.

The Senate has voted on an Iran War Powers Resolution 13 times, but has only passed it only once. The Senate first adopted a House-passed Iran War Powers resolution in late June when Sens. Collins, Murkowski, Paul and Bill Cassidy voted for it while Sens. Mitch McConnell and Dave McCormick missed the vote, clearing the way for the resolution’s passage.

The administration refused to make any changes with their strategy in Iran as a result of the resolution’s passage, calling the efforts “poorly timed and meaningless.”

However, since that June vote, the Senate has yet to pass another war powers resolution on Iran during its three attempts since then. That’s because Cassidy had previously flipped his vote back to voting against the resolution after a briefing with Trump administration officials following a contentious GOP meeting that Trump attended in June.

Cassidy, who argued he was undecided on how he would vote leading up to it, sidestepped reporters upon leaving the Capitol on Thursday, claiming he couldn’t talk because he was trying to make a flight out of town.

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(WASHINGTON) — Eight U.S. Navy personnel attached to the USS Abraham Lincoln carrier strike group have attempted suicide since the start of their extended deployment tied to the war in Iran, according to a letter ABC News obtained from Acting US Navy Secretary Hung Cao.

In the letter, sent to Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand on Tuesday, a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, Cao says that there have been eight suicide attempts since the USS Lincoln’s deployment began around 10 months ago.

“Since the beginning of LINCOLN’s deployment, there have been a total of eight suicide attempts across the strike group — this number includes the LINCOLN crew and Sailors from the carrier air wing, strike group and destroyer squadron staff, escorting destroyers, and all embarked aviation squadrons,” Cao wrote in response to questions from Gillibrand about the health and well-being of the personnel aboard the fleet.

The letter was first reported by CNN.

A Navy official told ABC News that while they treat every attempted suicide case very seriously, they maintain the number is not out of the norm for a long deployment. 

Throughout the deployment, the Lincoln had between 2,500 and 2,800 sailors aboard, according to Cao’s letter. Eight attempts among that population of sailors appear to be roughly consistent with Navy records for suicide attempts in the broader Navy ranks. 

The Navy recorded 356 suicide attempts in 2024, that last year of publicly available data. Over three years, the figure represents a nearly 50% increase in attempted suicides, according to Navy records.

President Donald Trump and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth have dismissed reports of poor conditions and mental health issues aboard the USS Lincoln. Cao confirmed that a sailor went overboard in early August from the Lincoln and was quickly recovered.

In his letter, Cao confirmed a piping issue aboard the USS Lincoln and that meal options were reduced from two to one during periods of higher-tempo operations, but that both issues were resolved.

Despite the USS Lincolns’ record-long deployment, Trump said in August that the vessel hasn’t been deployed for “nearly long enough.” Hegseth in August pushed back on reports of a sailor going overboard from the Lincoln and accounts of sailors struggling through an unusually long deployment have been “completely misrepresented.”

Adm. Brad Cooper, the commander of U.S. Central Command, said in an August social media post that “the Lincoln currently has among the lowest number of cases related to mental health” among the Navy’s 11 active aircraft carriers. Cooper also acknowledged in the post that it “doesn’t mean that all is perfect” and that a long deployment at sea “is uniquely challenging and tough, and every single one of us, including me, reacts to stressors in different ways.”

In a statement to ABC News, Gillibrand said Trump and Hegseth dismissed concerns that “turned out to be serious and deteriorating conditions for our service members.” Gillibrand called the treatment of service members under the Trump administration “completely unacceptable.”

The ship was slated for a normal six-month deployment to the Pacific but had been extended on an unusually long deployment due to the war with Iran, where it was redirected earlier this year.

The president initially estimated the war in Iran would last four to six weeks. Instead it’s nearing its eighth month and 50,000 American service members remain deployed in the region. Eighteen U.S. service members have been killed and over 800 wounded since the U.S. and Israel launched strikes against Iran.

The Lincoln Strike group left the Middle East late last month — replaced by the USS George Washington — and is en route to its home port in California. The ship docked in Thailand earlier this month with a record 286 days at sea.

If you are struggling with thoughts of suicide or worried about a friend or loved one, call or text the Suicide & Crisis Lifeline at 988 for free, confidential emotional support 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

ABC News’ Chris Boccia contributed to this report.

Copyright © 2026, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

(WASHINGTON) — Eight U.S. Navy personnel attached to the USS Abraham Lincoln carrier strike group have attempted suicide since the start of their extended deployment tied to the war in Iran, according to a letter ABC News obtained from Acting US Navy Secretary Hung Cao.

In the letter, sent to Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand on Tuesday, a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, Cao says that there have been eight suicide attempts since the USS Lincoln’s deployment began around 10 months ago.

“Since the beginning of LINCOLN’s deployment, there have been a total of eight suicide attempts across the strike group — this number includes the LINCOLN crew and Sailors from the carrier air wing, strike group and destroyer squadron staff, escorting destroyers, and all embarked aviation squadrons,” Cao wrote in response to questions from Gillibrand about the health and well-being of the personnel aboard the fleet.

The letter was first reported by CNN.

A Navy official told ABC News that while they treat every attempted suicide case very seriously, they maintain the number is not out of the norm for a long deployment. 

Throughout the deployment, the Lincoln had between 2,500 and 2,800 sailors aboard, according to Cao’s letter. Eight attempts among that population of sailors appear to be roughly consistent with Navy records for suicide attempts in the broader Navy ranks. 

The Navy recorded 356 suicide attempts in 2024, that last year of publicly available data. Over three years, the figure represents a nearly 50% increase in attempted suicides, according to Navy records.

President Donald Trump and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth have dismissed reports of poor conditions and mental health issues aboard the USS Lincoln. Cao confirmed that a sailor went overboard in early August from the Lincoln and was quickly recovered.

In his letter, Cao confirmed a piping issue aboard the USS Lincoln and that meal options were reduced from two to one during periods of higher-tempo operations, but that both issues were resolved.

Despite the USS Lincolns’ record-long deployment, Trump said in August that the vessel hasn’t been deployed for “nearly long enough.” Hegseth in August pushed back on reports of a sailor going overboard from the Lincoln and accounts of sailors struggling through an unusually long deployment have been “completely misrepresented.”

Adm. Brad Cooper, the commander of U.S. Central Command, said in an August social media post that “the Lincoln currently has among the lowest number of cases related to mental health” among the Navy’s 11 active aircraft carriers. Cooper also acknowledged in the post that it “doesn’t mean that all is perfect” and that a long deployment at sea “is uniquely challenging and tough, and every single one of us, including me, reacts to stressors in different ways.”

In a statement to ABC News, Gillibrand said Trump and Hegseth dismissed concerns that “turned out to be serious and deteriorating conditions for our service members.” Gillibrand called the treatment of service members under the Trump administration “completely unacceptable.”

The ship was slated for a normal six-month deployment to the Pacific but had been extended on an unusually long deployment due to the war with Iran, where it was redirected earlier this year.

The president initially estimated the war in Iran would last four to six weeks. Instead it’s nearing its eighth month and 50,000 American service members remain deployed in the region. Eighteen U.S. service members have been killed and over 800 wounded since the U.S. and Israel launched strikes against Iran.

The Lincoln Strike group left the Middle East late last month — replaced by the USS George Washington — and is en route to its home port in California. The ship docked in Thailand earlier this month with a record 286 days at sea.

If you are struggling with thoughts of suicide or worried about a friend or loved one, call or text the Suicide & Crisis Lifeline at 988 for free, confidential emotional support 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

ABC News’ Chris Boccia contributed to this report.

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