Over 100 arrested, including Oscar-winning actress Susan Sarandon, at anti-Netanyahu protest outside UN

Oscar-winning actress Susan Sarandon was arrested alongside actors, politicians and activists protesting Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu outside the United Nations headquarters on Thursday.

The Israeli Prime Minister's appearance at the General Assembly triggered protests both outside and inside the UN.

Sarandon, who won the Academy Award for best actress for Dead Man Walking, was among those detained as demonstrators staged a sit-in on First Avenue, a few blocks from UN headquarters, ahead of Netanyahu’s address.

Emmy-winning Hacks star Hannah Einbinder was also detained.

Reuters initially reported that police arrested at least 30 people, including Sarandon, Einbinder, Democratic congressional candidate Darializa Avila Chevalier and New York City Council member Chi Ossé.

CNN later reported, citing the New York Police Department, that 103 people were taken into custody as officers moved to clear the sit-in.

Video from the scene showed police officers placing zip ties around Sarandon and Einbinder’s wrists before directing them towards an NYPD bus.

Jewish Voice for Peace, which organised the demonstration, said comedian Caleb Hearon, author Glennon Doyle, former US Army intelligence analyst Chelsea Manning and Avila Chevalier were among those detained.

Actress and activist Cynthia Nixon, Pulitzer-winning playwright Tony Kushner, photographer Nan Goldin and poet Eileen Myles were also seen at the protest, according to CNN. Congressional candidate Brad Lander took part as well.

The demonstration brought several hundred protesters into the streets near the UN as Netanyahu arrived in New York for an unusually brief visit centred on his General Assembly appearance.

Reuters put the number gathered outside the UN at around 200, while a CNN correspondent at the scene described several hundred demonstrators.

Many wore identical white T-shirts carrying the messages “Fund people not bombs,” “No war” and “Free Palestine.” Others held placards calling for an end to US arms supplies to Israel.

Jewish Voice for Peace said it organised the sit-in to call on governments to stop arming Israel and end what it describes as genocide in Gaza.

The demonstration remained peaceful but blocked traffic, according to CNN.

Police arrived shortly after midday and repeatedly ordered protesters to leave the roadway. Some moved onto the pavement, while a core group remained seated in the street.

Officers then began removing protesters individually, binding their hands with zip ties and escorting them towards police buses.

As the arrests continued, demonstrators chanted against Netanyahu. Reuters reported that protesters outside the buses shouted: “Netanyahu go to hell.”

Manijeh Moradian, a university professor of Iranian and Jewish heritage who joined the protest, told Reuters that Americans had a responsibility to oppose Israel’s actions because of Washington’s support for the country.

“What’s being done to Gaza, the obliteration of an entire society, in our name, with our tax dollars, this is our responsibility to speak out against,” Moradian said.

“Netanyahu has no right to use the platform of the United Nations to justify these atrocities,” she added.

The confrontation outside the UN was mirrored by an extraordinary scene inside the General Assembly hall.

As Netanyahu approached the podium, dozens of delegates from multiple countries stood up and walked out in protest.

Reuters reported that the walkout began as the Israeli prime minister started his address. CNN described it as a “significant walkout” involving multiple delegations, while AP also reported delegates leaving as Netanyahu took the podium.

Foreign Policy reported that more than 100 UN delegates left their seats and exited the chamber.

The Palestinian delegation had circulated a memo urging other missions to join the protest, according to AFP reporting carried by Channels Television. Delegates booed and jeered as others left, while members and supporters of the Israeli delegation applauded Netanyahu. The presiding officer repeatedly called for order.

Netanyahu responded immediately.

“If there are any other moral cowards who haven’t left this hall, please do so now,” he said as the departures continued.

He later argued that Israel was protecting some of the same countries whose representatives had walked out.

“In defending itself, Israel is also defending many of the countries whose delegates just left this hall,” Netanyahu said.

He claimed leaders of some of those countries had privately thanked Israel for its military actions against Iran.

Netanyahu used the address to defend Israel’s military campaigns and reject accusations over its conduct in Gaza.

He also defended Israel's attacks on Iran, telling the General Assembly that striking Iranian nuclear facilities had been “one of the easiest decisions” he had made as prime minister because he considered Iran an existential threat.

The Israeli premier rejected allegations that Israel had committed genocide in Gaza, saying: “Israel didn't commit genocide. Israel prevented genocide.”

Israel has repeatedly rejected genocide allegations and says its military operations target Hamas and other armed groups.

Netanyahu's UN appearance came against the backdrop of deepening international criticism of Israeli policy in Gaza and the occupied West Bank. Leaders from Europe and the Middle East, including France, Britain, Jordan, Syria, Qatar and Türkiye, had used their own appearances at the General Assembly to criticise Israeli actions, CBS News reported.

The International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants in November 2024 for Netanyahu and former Israeli defence minister Yoav Gallant, alleging war crimes and crimes against humanity connected to the Gaza conflict. Israel rejects the allegations and disputes the court's jurisdiction.

The United States is not a member of the ICC, and legal experts have said New York authorities have no mechanism to execute the ICC warrant against Netanyahu.

Netanyahu's visit was also markedly shorter than his previous trips to New York during UN General Assembly week.

His office said meetings were planned with the presidents of Argentina, Bolivia, Paraguay, Panama and Ethiopia, the vice-president of Colombia and the prime ministers of Greece, Slovenia and Papua New Guinea.

But Thursday's images were dominated by two simultaneous protests: police buses carrying away Sarandon, Einbinder and scores of other demonstrators outside the UN, and rows of diplomats abandoning their seats as Netanyahu began speaking inside.

For Sarandon, 79, the arrest was the latest in a long history of political activism. The actress has repeatedly participated in demonstrations over war, immigration, labour rights and Palestine.

This time, her detention came within blocks of the world's largest annual gathering of political leaders — while the Israeli prime minister the demonstrators had come to protest was addressing them from the UN podium.

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