Isolated Netanyahu Defiant at UN       09/25 06:20

   Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu began the year declaring that he 
stood "shoulder to shoulder" with U.S. President Donald Trump as the two 
countries launched a war against Iran. But this week, as world leaders gathered 
in New York for the United Nations General Assembly, there were no plans for 
the two men to be in the same room, or even in the same city.

   JERUSALEM (AP) -- Israeli Prime Minister 
https://apnews.com/hub/benjamin-netanyahu began the year declaring that he 
stood "shoulder to shoulder" with U.S. President Donald Trump as the two 
countries launched a https://apnews.com/hub/iran. But this week, as world 
leaders gathered in New York for the 
https://apnews.com/hub/united-nations-general-assembly, there were no plans for 
the two men to be in the same room, or even in the same city.

   As the war with Iran has dragged on, Trump and Netanyahu have split over how 
to prosecute it, straining a relationship between the two allies. Netanyahu has 
also faced global criticism both for Israel's war in Gaza and 
https://apnews.com/hub/west-bank. Instead of a packed itinerary, Netanyahu, who 
arrived in New York on Thursday, was to meet only a handful of leaders before 
giving his speech.

   The apparent snub underscored how badly the relationship between Trump and 
the prime minister has fractured. Many in Washington associate Netanyahu with 
the 
https://apnews.com/article/trump-approval-iran-war-poll-republicans-election-55e
9c80afec521d87f131393a59674c0 and Trump has labored to avoid the appearance 
that the Israeli leader forced him into a war that Trump said would be a 
https://apnews.com/article/trump-iran-war-six-months-anniversary-israel-3c4d33b0
9fdbe19928781c678aa025c9.

   Netanyahu's brief visit also demonstrated how isolated he is globally, three 
years after launching a punishing war in Gaza in retaliation for the 
https://apnews.com/today-in-history/october-7. He faces reelection next month 
in polls widely seen as a referendum on his responsibility for the security 
failures surrounding the attacks and his ability to defend Israel's reputation 
on the world stage.

   Still, Netanyahu was unfazed when scores of diplomats marched out when he 
took the stage on Thursday.

   "If there are any other moral cowards who have not yet left this hall, 
please do so now," Netanyahu said and delivered a defiant speech lashing out at 
critics who accuse Israel of genocide and war crimes in Gaza.

   He also accused New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani, who had 
https://apnews.com/article/un-israel-netanyahu-mamdani-arrest-warrant-4a2d0ce1e3
27b1105d87eb40081e9f81, of 
https://apnews.com/article/zohran-mamdani-netanyahu-un-israel-nyc-7c36b1356939bf
606d66eb1d3f9952a4 and endangering Jewish New Yorkers.

   Netanyahu is a master showman 

   Still, the prime minister is a 
https://apnews.com/article/israel-netanyahu-un-general-assembly-gaza-8c1cc9d4513
e7985512a9d6f742325fa during speeches in flawless English to drive home his 
message. His speech, ahead of next month's elections, appeared aimed at Israeli 
voters, and was repeatedly interrupted by cheers from supporters he had brought 
into the hall.

   "He times his speech so that it is broadcast here in primetime," said 
Michael Oren, a former Israeli ambassador to the U.S. who served under 
Netanyahu and lives in Israel.

   But experts say without the usual high-profile meetings, the trip could hurt 
Netanyahu's image at home.

   "I think the trip is a mistake, because it exposes his weaknesses," said 
Eytan Gilboa, an expert on U.S.-Israel relations and professor at Israel's 
Bar-Ilan and Reichman universities.

   While many Israelis view the U.N. as hostile toward Israel, he added, the 
fact that he could not secure a meeting with Trump only highlights how poorly 
Netanyahu has managed the relationship with his nation's strongest ally.

   In 2023, U.S. President Joe Biden was reluctant to host Netanyahu at the 
White House but still made time to 
https://apnews.com/article/israel-netanyahu-biden-white-house-united-nations-c6d
ab3cc0357f67b2054446f3c6cdc52 of the U.N. General Assembly.

   "Israel cannot survive without the United States," Gilboa said.

   Meanwhile, Mike Huckabee, the U.S. ambassador to Israel and a longtime 
supporter of Israeli settlements, has sharply criticized settlers attacking 
Palestinian communities in the West Bank. In unusual remarks for an ambassador, 
he referred 
https://apnews.com/article/israel-palestinians-west-bank-ambassador-settlers-e33
f8c97f368e7babd37c6d8c0a5759d

   "It's significant of a deeper rift," Oren said of Netanyahu's slim itinerary.

   When Trump was in New York on Tuesday, he met with an array of leaders from 
Arab nations, as well as from Denmark, Japan, Greenland, Ukraine and Venezuela, 
among others. He then quickly returned to Washington to 
https://apnews.com/article/trump-xi-china-state-visit-e21305f04e21bae2c083282a8b
fc8321.

   Netanyahu has met with Trump seven times since the U.S. president's return 
to office in January 2025, though only once since the war with Iran began.

   Not meeting the president was a "big, big miss for him at a time where he 
can't afford misses," said Natan Sachs, senior fellow at the Middle East 
Institute in Washington.

   On other past trips, Netanyahu met with a slate of high-profile leaders, 
including Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, Turkish President Tayyip 
Erdogan and then-German Chancellor Olaf Scholz.

   This year, though, the prime minister's office said "many world leaders" 
asked to meet with Netanyahu during his brief visit, but that he was on a 
"tight schedule" and needed to return to Israel before the start of the Jewish 
holiday of Sukkot, which begins at sundown on Friday.

   On his schedule, the statement said, were leaders from Argentina, Bolivia, 
Paraguay, Panama, Ethiopia, Greece, Slovenia, and Papua New Guinea.