Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is planning to go to New York to address the UN General Assembly in late September, Danny Danon, Israel’s ambassador-designate to the UN, told the Jerusalem Post.
According to Danon, who will present his credentials to UN Secretary-General António Guterres next week, Netanyahu is scheduled to speak to the General Assembly on either September 26 or 27.
“We are preparing the ground for the visit of the prime minister,” said Danon. “I believe he will arrive—we don’t know what will happen tomorrow in Israel—but the plans are that he will come and speak in front of the General Assembly.”
The upcoming General Assembly meeting will be dominated by the Palestinian issue, Danon said.
In his nearly 17 years as prime minister, Netanyahu has spoken numerous times at the General Assembly and views it as an important platform from which to present Israel’s position to the world. This speech will come fast on the heels of another high-profile speech he delivered explaining Israel's position to a special joint session of Congress last month.
Netanyahu's previous address
Netanyahu last year addressed the UN just two weeks before the October 7 massacre and said Israel was “at the cusp” of a historic agreement with Saudi Arabia. He met at the time with US President Joe Biden on the sidelines of the UN meeting and discussed efforts to move this process forward.
It is as yet unclear whether there will be another meeting between Biden and Netanyahu in New York. The two met in Washington last month when Netanyahu addressed Congress.