Can Netanyahu turn Israel's UN isolation into strength at home?
The absence of a Trump meeting would have been awkward for Netanyahu, who has long portrayed himself to Israeli voters as uniquely close to the US president.
TEL AVIV — Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s annual United Nations General Assembly address Thursday underscored the challenges he faces on the international stage — a sharp contrast with 2019, when he was named one of Time magazine’s 100 most influential people — as he also confronts mounting political pressures at home.
In a sign of protest, dozens of delegates walked out of the UN General Assembly hall as Netanyahu approached the podium, an incident that drew widespread international attention.
Associates of the prime minister sought to downplay the walkout. “The representatives of the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain did not leave the hall and remained there throughout Netanyahu’s speech,” a senior Israeli diplomatic source told Al-Monitor on condition of anonymity.
But a senior Israeli political official said the walkout underscored Netanyahu’s increasingly difficult position on the international stage following the wars in Gaza and Lebanon as well as what he described as Israel’s growing diplomatic isolation. With elections scheduled for Oct. 27, the official said Netanyahu is also facing mounting political pressure at home.
