Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will make his case to the world on Friday, addressing an international community from which his country faces mounting pressure and isolation over its devastating assault on Gaza.
Netanyahu took an unusual route to his annual speech at the United Nations General Assembly in New York, his flight path appearing to avoid countries that could enforce an international arrest warrant for alleged war crimes in Gaza.
He is also expected to meet with President Donald Trump, who on Thursday said he would not allow the close U.S. ally to annex the already occupied West Bank in retaliation for the wave of countries that have recognized a Palestinian state.
Netanyahu said he planned to “speak our truth — the truth about the citizens of Israel, the truth about our IDF soldiers and the truth about our country,” The Times of Israel reported.
He said he also planned to “denounce” the growing list of Western countries that have officially recognized Palestine as a state in response to his intensifying military campaign.
Israeli forces have ramped up their assault on famine-stricken Gaza City, forcing the displacement of hundreds of thousands of people while others stay put under near-daily deadly strikes.
It also comes after Trump issued a firm warning that he would not allow the Israeli leader’s government to annex the West Bank if it tried to push ahead with a plan that would draw new global outrage.
“I will not allow Israel to annex the West Bank. No, I will not allow it. It’s not going to happen,” Trump told reporters, having earlier privately assured Arab leaders on the subject.
Asked whether he had discussed the issue with Netanyahu, Trump said, “Whether I spoke to him or not, I did, but I’m not allowing Israel to annex the West Bank.”
“There’s been enough. It’s time to stop now,” he said.
Trump issued the rare admonishment after far-right members of Netanyahu’s fragile government coalition called for the move.
Palestinians envision the West Bank as a key territory for an internationally recognized Palestinian state, alongside Gaza and east Jerusalem. Annexation of the territory, which has been occupied by Israel since 1967, would further imperil that cause.
Trump also presented his 21-point plan for peace to Arab leaders, with his special envoy Steve Witkoff saying the meeting was “productive” and that a breakthrough could be imminent.
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas was also among the leaders to address UNGA, though he was forced to deliver his address by video after the U.S. last month revoked his visa, along with those of other Palestinian Authority officials.
In his video address, Abbas said Palestinians in Gaza “have been facing a war of genocide, destruction, starvation and displacement” by Israel, adding that “despite all what our people have suffered, we reject what Hamas carried out on the 7th of October.”
Abbas said Hamas would have “no role to play in governance” in the future he envisioned for Gaza.
That future is at stake in peace talks, and Netanyahu will address world leaders while under pressure not just from his closest ally and his ministers but from the families of hostages still held in Gaza.
The Israeli leader has thus far defied their protests calling for him to strike a deal to end the war and free their loved ones.
