Netanyahu to Address UN Amid Criticism From Allies and Rivals

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is scheduled to address the United Nations General Assembly on Thursday amid a difficult domestic reelection campaign. He is expected to confront both adversaries and traditional allies who have recently criticized his government's conduct in Gaza and the West Bank.

New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani vowed to enforce an International Criminal Court arrest warrant against Netanyahu, though he later acknowledged lacking the legal authority to do so. Netanyahu responded by accusing Mamdani of supporting Hamas and inciting violence against Jews, allegations Mamdani denied as false.

“Netanyahu said he was going to "tell the truth about you," addressing Mamdani and accusing him of "supporting the Hamas terrorist monsters."”

French President Emmanuel Macron drew sharp Israeli rebuke for stating Hamas was not active in the West Bank. Netanyahu's office called the claim "grossly absurd," asserting Hamas attacks Jews there almost daily. Britain and France have recently imposed limited sanctions on Israeli exports from the occupied West Bank.

Palestinian President Mahmud Abbas will not attend after Washington denied him a visa. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Jordan's King Abdullah II, Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, and UN Secretary-General António Guterres also delivered strong criticisms of Israel during the assembly.

Meanwhile, Neria Leiter, son of Israel's ambassador to Washington Yechiel Leiter, was seriously wounded in a Palestinian ramming attack at the Maccabim checkpoint in the West Bank on Wednesday. He is undergoing treatment at Jerusalem's Shaare Zedek Medical Center.