Aniefiok Christopher
Argentine President Javier Milei has described the United Nations as a “useless organisation,” accusing it of failing to fulfil its founding responsibilities.
This was as Israel’s Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu blasted New York’s mayor Zohran Mamdani as anti-Semitic, saying “Shame on you for spitting in the face of truth,” he said at comments directed at the mayor, who had branded him a “war criminal.”
Milei made the remarks during his address to the 81st session of the United Nations General Assembly in New York on Wednesday, September 23.
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He argued that the organisation had departed from its original mission of protecting international law, national sovereignty, human rights and peaceful cooperation.
The President said the principles behind the UN’s creation were noble but claimed the institution had failed to uphold them.
“It has become a useless organisation whose only purpose is to sustain a caste of fatally arrogant parasites masquerading as well-intentioned bureaucrats,” Milei said.
The Argentine president accused the UN of failing to guarantee collective security and protect human rights, claiming that it had instead allowed “chaos, violence and international terrorism” to flourish.
Milei also strongly criticised what he described as the organisation’s treatment of Israel and its approach to human rights.
“The alleged defenders of human rights have sheltered bloodthirsty dictatorships and regimes that stone women in the streets,” he said.
“They have systematically voted against Israel while remaining silent in the face of Islamic terrorism and the genocide of Christians in Africa.”
Those assertions reflected Milei’s characterisation of the UN’s record and were not presented in his speech as findings by an independent international body.
Milei reaffirmed Argentina’s foreign-policy alignment with the United States, Israel and the broader Western bloc, saying his government shared a “deep affinity of values” with them.
He also condemned Iran’s attacks against Israel and highlighted Argentina’s decision to designate Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps as a terrorist organisation.
Argentina formally added the Quds Force, the overseas operations arm of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, to its terrorism registry in January 2026, before expanding the designation to the IRGC as a whole in August.
Milei used the address to criticise the UN on other issues, including the long-running dispute between Argentina and the United Kingdom over the Falkland Islands, known in Argentina as the Malvinas.
He described the islands as a “national cause” for Argentina and accused the UN of failing to enforce its own resolutions concerning the sovereignty dispute. Milei called on the United Kingdom to resume negotiations aimed at reaching a peaceful resolution.
The UK maintains that the Falkland Islanders have the right to determine their own political status. In a 2013 referendum, 99.8% of participating islanders voted to remain a British Overseas Territory.
Argentina disputes the applicability of self-determination to the sovereignty question.
Milei’s speech continued the Argentine president’s broader criticism of international institutions and multilateral governance, while underscoring his government’s close political alignment with the United States and Israel.
Protests Greet Netanyahu’s speech
Benjamin Netanyahu’s speech was delayed by protests and a mass walkout.
He said the US and Israel have been working together to “save civilisation”, and hailed the IDF as “the most moral army in the world”.
Netanyahu’s appearance sparked protests outside the UN’s headquarters with some arrests, including of Hollywood actor Susan Sarandon.
The president of the European Council of the European Union, António Costa said the UN is under pressure from “geopolitical polarisation, financial constraints and institutional shortcomings”, and calls for reform and re-investment.
President of Hungary András Baka used his address to warn about Russian aggression. “If taking territory by force becomes an accepted way of settling disputes, every smaller country will have reasons to worry about its own future.”
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Mahmoud Abbas, the longtime president of the Palestinian Authority, said the Palestinian delegation was unlawfully denied entry visas.
Abbas accused Israel of seeking to “expand its colonial project towards establishing the so-called Greater Israel and completely erasing Palestinian presence.”
He also expressed particular gratitude to the UK for the measures it had taken “in order to protect the two-state solution” and ban settlement products.
‘‘We’ve taken innumerable steps to protect the civilian population,” Netanyahu claims. “Is this genocide? Of course not. It’s the opposite of genocide.
“To all those spreading lies about my country and its brave soldiers, whether they sit in this hall, or in the antisemitic office of the mayor of New York, I say this: Shame on you. 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!”
“Mr Mamdani, since you were elected mayor of this city, many Jews no longer feel safe in New York,” He added.
Earlier this month, Israeli attacks in Gaza since 2023 have killed more than 73,000 Palestinians, the majority of them civilians, and injured more than 174,000 others, representing more than 10% of Gaza’s prewar population.
