UNITED NATIONS (AP) 鈥 Facing international isolation, accusations of war crimes and growing pressure to end a conflict he has continued to escalate, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu gets his chance to push back Friday on the international community’s biggest platform.
Netanyahu’s annual speech to the is always closely watched, often protested, reliably emphatic and sometimes a . But this time, the stakes are higher than ever for the Israeli leader.
In recent days, Australia, Canada, France, the United Kingdom and others announced their of an independent Palestinian state.
The European Union is on Israel. The assembly this month passed a nonbinding resolution , which Netanyahu has said is a non-starter.
The International Criminal Court has issued an accusing Netanyahu of , which he denies. And the U.N鈥檚 highest court is weighing that Israel has committed genocide in Gaza, which it vehemently refutes.
Against that backdrop, Netanyahu sounded resolute Thursday as he boarded a plane in Israel to head for the U.N.鈥檚 annual meeting of top-level leaders in New York.
鈥淚 will tell our truth,鈥 Netanyahu said. 鈥淚 will condemn those leaders who, instead of condemning the murderers, rapists and burners of children, want to give them a state in the heart of Israel.鈥
Opposition to Netanyahu’s approach is growing
At a special session of the assembly this week, nation after nation expressed horror at the 2023 attack by Hamas militants that killed about 1,200 people in Israel, saw 251 taken hostage and triggered the war. Many of the representatives went on to call for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza and influx of aid.
Israel’s sweeping offensive has killed more than 65,000 Palestinians in Gaza and displaced 90 percent of its population, with .
While more than the United States has not, providing Israel with . But President Donald Trump pointedly signaled Thursday there are limits, telling reporters in Washington that the .
Israel hasn鈥檛 announced such a move, but several leading members in Netanyahu’s government have advocated doing so. And officials recently approved a that would effectively cut the West Bank in two, a move that critics say could doom chances for a Palestinian state. Trump and Netanyahu are scheduled to meet during his visit.
Palestinians had their UN say the day before
Netanyahu was preceded Thursday by Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas, who addressed the General Assembly via video, since the U.S. denied him a visa. He welcomed the announcements of recognition but said the world needs to do more to make statehood happen.
鈥淭he time has come for the international community to do right by the Palestinian people” and help them realize 鈥渢heir legitimate rights to be rid of the occupation and to not remain a hostage to the temperament of Israeli politics,鈥 he said.
Abbas leads the internationally recognized Palestinian Authority, which administers portions of the West Bank. Hamas won legislative elections in Gaza in 2006 before seizing control from Abbas鈥 forces the following year.
Israel captured the West Bank, east Jerusalem and the Gaza Strip in the 1967 Mideast war, then withdrew from Gaza in 2005. The Palestinians want all three territories to form their envisioned state, part of a 鈥渢wo-state solution鈥 that the international community has embraced for decades.
Netanyahu opposes it robustly, maintaining that creating a Palestinian state would reward Hamas.
鈥淭his will not happen,鈥 he said at the airport Thursday.
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Geller reported from New York.
