Israel's Netanyahu set to hit back at widespread criticism in U.N. address

Tel Aviv — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is due to address the United Nations General Assembly on Thursday as his country faces broad condemnation and growing isolation over Israel's actions in the Gaza Strip and the occupied West Bank. Netanyahu arrived in New York early Thursday morning and is due to leave just a few hours after his speech, which he is scheduled to deliver at 2 p.m. Leaders from Europe and the Middle East, including France, the U.K., Jordan, Syria, Qatar and Turkey, devoted at least some of their time at the U.N. podium Wednesday to harshly denounce Israel.

Analysts say Netanyahu will take advantage of the critical focus on Israel to demonstrate his ability to defend his country on the international stage just weeks before a tightly contested Israeli election. It will be an unusually brief trip to New York for Netanyahu during the General Assembly. He has often capitalized on the autumn visits to meet with other world leaders, particularly the American president and secretary of state.

His office said he would meet Thursday 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. He is not due to meet with President Trump. Netanyahu's office said this year's trip would be so brief because the prime minister needs to return to Israel for the Jewish holiday of Sukkot, which begins Friday evening.

In his speech, Netanyahu is expected to focus primarily on Iran, according to a person familiar with the matter. He will also likely defend Israel's ongoing military campaigns in Gaza and in neighboring countries such as Syria. Netanyahu has used past General Assembly addresses to make claims about Iran's military and nuclear efforts, and he has promised surprises in his upcoming speeches.

Netanyahu has also vowed to respond in his U.N. address to the latest criticism from New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani. In a video responding to Mamdani calling him a "war criminal" earlier this week, Netanyahu said he would use his speech at the U.N. to "tell the truth about" the mayor, whom he accused of supporting Hamas. During his election campaign, Mamdani had threatened to have New York authorities act on an arrest warrant issued by the International Criminal Court for Netanyahu, should he attend the U.N. gathering.

The mayor later recognized that he couldn't have Netanyahu detained, but he urged federal U.S. authorities to detain him instead and noted that New Yorkers would still have an outlet to express their feelings about the Israeli leader, calling the act of protest "one of the bedrocks of our city." Mamdani's reference to protests against Netanyahu — which were expected to take place Thursday — drew a sharp rebuke from the prime minister in his video this week. "Shame on you for inciting riots against New York Jews. I'm going to tell the truth about our heroic soldiers, and I'm going to tell the truth about you," Netanyahu said.