Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, wanted by the International Criminal Court (ICC) over war crimes committed in Gaza, is set to take the podium at the U.N. General Assembly next week, while the U.S. again denied Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas a visa to travel ​to New York.

As last year, Abbas, a regular at the U.N. General Assembly, will address the body of global leadership by video. The U.N. General Assembly voted Thursday overwhelmingly, 152 votes to three, for the Palestinian leader to be able to appear virtually once again this year.

Palestinian leaders rejected and condemned the move by the United States, Palestinian U.N. envoy ​Riyad Mansour told the General Assembly.

Under ​a 1947 U.N. "headquarters agreement," ⁠the U.S. is required to allow ⁠access for foreign diplomats to the U.N. in New York. ⁠However, the U.S. has prevented Abbas and his delegation from traveling for two consecutive years.

As it did during the era of Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) leader Yasser Arafat, Washington has used its status as the U.N. host country to exert political pressure, imposing severe restrictions on visas, transit permits and the size of Palestinian delegations.

In 1988, the U.S. denied a visa to then-Palestinian leader Arafat when he sought to address the U.N. General Assembly.

While a leader accused by the ICC of "using starvation as a method of warfare and deliberately targeting civilians" is given a place at the U.N. podium, the host country is denying the same opportunity to the legitimate Palestinian leader whose people are being killed.

The U.S. decision comes as violence by Israeli occupiers and by forces against Palestinians in the occupied West Bank has escalated in recent months.

Israel, which has occupied the West Bank since 1967, has stepped up illegal land seizures of Palestinian land, while violence has intensified since October 2023.

Netanyahu to address U.N. General Assembly

The ICC issued arrest warrants in late November 2024 for Netanyahu and former Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant over war crimes and crimes against humanity in the Gaza Strip.

Israel's genocidal campaign has killed more than 73,820 people in the Palestinian enclave since October 2023.

The warrants, issued following an application by the ICC prosecutor's office, constitute a binding obligation for more than 120 countries that are parties to the Rome Statute.

The U.S., which hosts U.N. headquarters, however, is not a party to the Rome Statute and is hosting in New York a suspect wanted by the international court.

Netanyahu is therefore set to address the U.N. General Assembly this year, as he did last year.

Protests expected

Dozens of diplomats walked out of the U.N. General Assembly hall as Netanyahu took the podium during the September 2025 session, leaving much of the chamber empty during his speech.

Outside, demonstrators opposed attacks on Gaza gathered in Times Square to protest Netanyahu and Israel.

This year, diplomats from several countries are again expected to stage a diplomatic boycott by walking out during Netanyahu's speech, while mass protests are also expected across New York.

'Double standard'

The contrasting treatment in New York has also raised questions about the Western world's frequently invoked concept of a "rules-based international order."

Western governments, including the U.S., have faced criticism for refusing to recognize ICC decisions involving Netanyahu, despite having previously used mechanisms ranging from intelligence sharing to pressure on third countries to support efforts to enforce the ICC warrant against Russian President Vladimir Putin over the Ukraine war.

Civil society organizations including Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch have repeatedly called for Netanyahu, who is subject to an ICC warrant, to be arrested.

Türkiye takes steps toward Interpol Red Notice against Netanyahu

Alongside the ICC proceedings, Türkiye has also sought to activate international mechanisms against those responsible for crimes in Gaza, taking concrete steps toward having an Interpol Red Notice issued for Netanyahu and other officials.

A Red Notice potentially exposes a wanted individual to arrest across Interpol's 196 member countries, restricting Netanyahu's freedom of movement and leaving him with only a limited number of routes where he has specific diplomatic assurances.

Western countries fail to enforce ICC warrant

The ICC warrants, however, have not been enforced in practice, with critics attributing what they describe as double standards among Western countries that are parties to the Rome Statute.

During his trips to the U.S., Netanyahu has flown through the airspace of Rome Statute parties France, Italy and Greece despite the court's warrant, with those countries failing to fulfill their obligations toward the ICC.

Netanyahu's visit to Hungary in April 2025 also took place with a special guarantee from the government of then-Prime Minister Viktor Orban that he would not be arrested.

Netanyahu's plane to land in New Jersey

Netanyahu's aircraft is reportedly set to land at Newark Airport in New Jersey rather than at an airport in New York.

Asked whether the ICC arrest warrant would be enforced if Netanyahu came to New York for the U.N. General Assembly meetings in September, New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani said: "Whatever the law allows me to do in New York City, that's what we will do, but we won't be writing our own laws to that end."

"I believe that Prime Minister Netanyahu belongs in The Hague. He's a war criminal who has been charged by the International Criminal Court," Mamdani said.