Netanyahu’s fleeting visit to New York mirrors strained US-Israeli ties

• Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s brief New York visit contrasts with his longer 2025 trip, reflecting strained US-Israeli relations amid ongoing Gaza war and West Bank tensions.
• Netanyahu will meet nine world leaders, mainly from Latin America, but is notably not meeting US officials, marking a diplomatic setback before Israel’s October election.
• Falling US support for Israel and recent Western sanctions on Israeli settlements highlight Israel’s growing international isolation amid conflict and political challenges.

JERUSALEM - Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s unusually brief trip to the United States to address the UN stands in stark contrast to his week-long visit in 2025 that included a meeting with President Donald Trump, reflecting rocky times in US-Israeli ties.

Netanyahu is expected to be in New York for less than eight hours before returning to Israel, two Israeli officials said.

His office said he would meet nine world leaders, five of them from Latin American nations with which Israel has sought to deepen ties as relations with traditional partners in Europe have been strained by the Gaza war and West Bank settlement expansion.

A statement from Netanyahu’s office made no mention of meetings with US officials at the annual UN General Assembly.

Tough election looming

Israel’s former ambassador to Washington, Michael Oren, said he could not recall a time when an Israeli prime minister visited the US without meeting the president, describing this as a blow for Netanyahu ahead of Israel’s Oct 27 general election.

Trump has met Netanyahu eight times during his second term as president. Their last encounter was in July.

“It's a campaign speech. Now it would be much better if that campaign speech were accompanied by a meeting with the president, or another world leader, or at least the secretary of state, but apparently it’s not,” Oren said.

“I don't recall a time when the prime minister came to the United States and didn’t meet with the president... So I’m sure that he was disappointed by that.”

Netanyahu’s office said many world leaders requested to meet him “during the visit”.

“But, due to a tight schedule and the need to return before the onset of (the Jewish holiday of) Sukkot, the Prime Minister was only able to accommodate some of them,” it said.

Netanyahu’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Oren’s remarks.

Opinion polls indicate Netanyahu could lose the election, with his security credentials still shaken by the Oct 7, 2023, attacks by the Palestinian militant group Hamas on Israel, though he cannot be written off.

Netanyahu was set to meet the presidents of Argentina, Bolivia, Paraguay, Panama and Ethiopia, Colombia’s Vice-President, and the prime ministers of Greece, Slovenia and Papua New Guinea, his office said.

Trump and Netanyahu jointly launched a war on Iran in February, but the allies found themselves at odds as Trump sought to extricate the US from the conflict with key goals unmet.

Washington struck an interim deal with Tehran in June that was opposed by Israel before it unravelled a few weeks later.

US public backing for Israel has fallen since the Gaza war began, particularly among Democrats.

Israel has faced deepening diplomatic isolation since launching its war in Gaza in response to the Oct 7 attacks.

Earlier in September, once-steadfast allies Britain, France and Canada announced sanctions targeting Israeli settlements in the West Bank, which drew a muted response from Washington. REUTERS