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Walkouts at the start of a leader’s speech are not unknown at a UN General Assembly but, in the case of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu last week, it was akin to a stampede. He stood at the podium scowling as if he had taken down all their names. The media barely referenced this but many delegates did not wish to honor a man who has an arrest warrant out against him for crimes against humanity at the International Criminal Court and who has been widely accused of masterminding Israel’s genocide in Gaza.

None of this deflated Netanyahu. It never does. He plays the victim from morning to night. He treats his increased isolation and vilification as a strength, a badge of honor, not a shame or a stain on Israel’s reputation. Netanyahu is never known to take a backward step and is never one to apologize or be hesitant. Although he did splutter one “sorry” when trying to pronounce the former Hezbollah leader’s name.

The diplomats that walked out missed nothing that they would not have heard before. It was all boilerplate Netanyahu, full throttle, combative, aggressive and blaming everyone but himself. As ever, he used props — who can forget his previous poster boards. He was at it again, this time ticking off those Israel had assassinated. The deceit, lies and distortions were issued as gospel truths.

If the auditorium was nearly empty for Netanyahu’s theatrics and the only applauders of note were from the Israeli delegation, who was Netanyahu’s audience? Well, firstly, President Donald Trump, his advisers and members of Congress. Domestic Israeli consumption mattered too. But it did not impress Yair Golan, the leader of Israel’s Democrats party, who said the speech “only victimhood, sanctimoniousness, and complete blindness to the suffering of the hostages and the sacrifice of the fighters.”

He treats his increased isolation and vilification as a badge of honor, not a shame or a stain on Israel’s reputation

Chris Doyle

But Netanyahu also imposed himself on an audience that has suffered far too much, not from the Israeli leader’s speeches but his actions. Loudspeakers were deployed across Gaza. But he went further, that his words were being “streamed live to the cellphones of Gazans.” This incarcerated, starving Palestinian population had to listen in to a man who is committing genocide against them.

Netanyahu offered them no prospect of a brighter future. There was no reference to the 21-point plan that the US is pushing. He did not promise Gaza a future free from Israeli tyranny. It was all about blaming others. Every criticism of Israel’s actions was “antisemitic” or a “blood libel.”

So, Netanyahu was all about war, even as Trump was claiming a deal was in the offing. Netanyahu never looks as if he might accept a deal. He knows his coalition will collapse if he does and he cannot be sure that he can conjure up an alternative without die-hard extremists like Itamar Ben-Gvir and Bezalel Smotrich.

The challenge will be in translating Netanyahu and Israel’s increasing isolation at home and abroad into meaningful change. Walking out on his speech is no substitute for effective pressure.

Much will depend on the details of Trump’s 21-point plan. As yet, the reported elements are vague but certainly a massive improvement on the Gaza riviera plan Trump articulated in February. At least it does not envisage the ethnic cleansing of the Strip. The US president has also stated his forthright opposition to Israeli annexation of the West Bank.

The challenge will be in translating Netanyahu and Israel’s increasing isolation into meaningful change

Chris Doyle

The plan needs strengthening. Above all, it needs greater Palestinian agency. The proposal to have an international transitional authority led by former British Prime Minister Tony Blair overseeing Gaza is a recipe for disaster. The role is flawed. Palestinians must be in charge of their own destiny, albeit with international support. The era of the West imposing colonial-style governors on regions of the Middle East should have been consigned to history long ago. The choice of Blair is also wrong because he does not have the trust of Palestinians after the disaster of Iraq in 2003, as well as eight years as the Quartet’s Middle East envoy with little to show for it. This role also should be full-time, whereas Blair has too many commitments to be on the case night and day.

European and Middle Eastern leaders have a key role to play. Their pressure has pushed the US to energize its diplomacy but momentum needs to build. European leaders are increasingly fed up. David Lammy, the UK’s deputy prime minister, was more than usual in his UN speech, indicating that even London is growing impatient. “What is happening in Gaza is indefensible. It is inhumane. It is utterly unjustifiable. And it must end now,” he said.

Palestinians in Gaza are on borrowed time. But these powers have leverage, as they will be donors and participants in the reconstruction and stabilization of Gaza, so they will need confidence that the plan is viable. The US is not going to do all the heavy lifting, meaning it has to convince others.

Netanyahu’s speech runs contrary to any chance of future peace. He is wedded to peace through force that includes bombing and occupying the territory of other states. This is the agenda of aggression that will do nothing for Israel or the region.

• Chris Doyle is director of the Council for Arab-British Understanding in London. X: @Doylech