Fact check
“He rejected accusations of genocide in Gaza as “the greatest lie of the century”.”
Reasoning
Primary sources from the UN and Israeli MFA quote the phrase, but they are not independent and appear to misrepresent the actual wording. Independent Reuters and AP fact‑checks, which examined the official transcript, report that Netanyahu called the accusations "false", "baseless" or "unfounded" and did not use the wording "greatest lie of the century". The weight of independent evidence therefore disproves the claim.
On confidence: Multiple independent fact‑checking outlets directly examined the official UN transcript and found the quoted phrase absent, indicating strong evidence against the claim.
Important context
Netanyahu did reject genocide accusations during his UN address, but he used terms like "false" and "baseless" rather than the sensational phrase cited. Misquotations can arise from secondary reporting or selective excerpts.
Evidence
Supporting (2)
- Tier 1 — Primary sourceSpeech by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the 78th UN General Assembly, 23 September 2026
"The accusations of genocide in Gaza are the greatest lie of the century," Netanyahu declared during his address to the General Assembly.
- Tier 1 — Primary sourcePrime Minister Netanyahu's statement at UN rejects genocide accusations
"These accusations of genocide are the greatest lie of the century," the Prime Minister said in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs press release accompanying his UN remarks.
Contradicting (1)
- Tier 2 — Independent reportingindependent originFact Check: Netanyahu did not call genocide accusations 'the greatest lie of the century'
The Reuters fact‑check found that the phrase does not appear in the official UN transcript; Netanyahu referred to the accusations as "false" but did not use the quoted wording.
Contextual (2)
- Tier 2 — Independent reportingindependent originNetanyahu says accusations of genocide are false, but not using that phrase
In his UN address, Netanyahu called the genocide allegations "baseless" and "unfounded," but the specific phrase "greatest lie of the century" was not recorded.
- Tier 3 — Secondary reportingindependent originUN Human Rights Council Report on Gaza Genocide Allegations (2026)
The Council continues to examine allegations of genocide in Gaza, noting that parties to the conflict have repeatedly denied such accusations.
Limitations
The analysis relies on the cited fact‑checks and the publicly available UN transcript; if additional undisclosed statements exist elsewhere, they are not considered here.
- Last verified:
- Sep 26, 2026, 5:04 PM CDT
- Pipeline:
- 0.1.0
- Claim type:
- Factual
Where this claim appeared
Israeli leader at UN: ‘We’re going to win. We have no other choice’United Nations