Observed scale
No official exact tally exists
The United Nations does not publish a roll-call of political walkouts. Reuters and the BBC described dozens of delegates leaving. Foreign Policy reported that more than 100 delegates left their seats. Those descriptions count people, not countries, and should not be converted into an exact national tally.
Footage review · reported walkouts
Sixteen delegations identified as joining the walkout
Journalists Serife Cetin, Islam Dogru and Enes Canli reviewed General Assembly footage and identified delegations from Türkiye, Palestine, Tunisia, Syria, Algeria, Yemen, Egypt, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Iran, Qatar, Lebanon, Malaysia, Indonesia and Kuwait as joining the walkout. TRT World's account also named Pakistan.
Methodological caution
The largest country estimates combine absence with departure
Reports of nearly 70 or 77 countries combine delegations that departed with countries whose seats were vacant or whose representation could not be established. Spain, Brazil, Peru, Cuba, Nigeria, Ghana, Libya, Bangladesh, Afghanistan, Oman, Niger, Madagascar, Botswana, The Bahamas, Antigua and Barbuda and Cabo Verde appear in this combined category in reporting by Cetin, Dogru and Canli and by TRT World.
Delegations reported present
Trinidad and Tobago remained, alongside a separately reported group
Trinidad and Tobago's UN Ambassador, Dr Neil Parsan, confirmed that the national delegation remained throughout the address. Reporting by Cetin, Dogru and Canli and by TRT World also placed the United States, Germany, Argentina, Hungary, Serbia, Ukraine, Czechia and Greece among the delegations that remained.
Trinidad and Tobago's stated position
Staying was not presented as endorsement
Parsan told the Trinidad Guardian that Trinidad and Tobago's seats remained and would remain occupied for all speakers at UNGA81. He said this should not be read as endorsement of Netanyahu's remarks, restated support for a two-state solution and referred to Trinidad and Tobago's recognition of Palestine in 2024 and its United Nations voting record.
Bilateral record · 2026
A visibly more active period of Trinidad and Tobago–Israel engagement
Israel's non-resident ambassador Mattanya Aharon Cohen presented credentials on 5 February. In April, High Court orders listed Hamas, Hezbollah and Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps under the domestic terrorist-entity framework. In June, Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa'ar spoke with Foreign and CARICOM Affairs Minister Sean Sobers and publicly welcomed the listings. In July, Cohen and MASHAV Director-General Eynat Shlein met Trinidad and Tobago officials about cooperation in agriculture, food security, education, cybersecurity, smart cities, climate resilience, medicine and institutional development.
Public-policy engagement
UWI institute cancelled a webinar with a former Israeli ambassador
On 25 September, UWI's Institute of International Relations cancelled a planned webinar featuring former Israeli ambassador Ephraim Ben Matityahu, titled ‘The United Obsession with Israel: The Strange Coalition of Contradiction’. The institute apologised and reaffirmed commitments to academic freedom, human rights, respectful dialogue and peace. Claims about a new vetting policy or mandatory stakeholder representation are not included because they could not be verified from the available statement.
Extracts are summarised from the document of record, which is linked above. Where a passage is disputed, this newsroom will publish the correction alongside the extract.