Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu arrived in New York Thursday for a whirlwind, less-than-eight-hour visit to the UNGA, highlighting Israel's deepening diplomatic isolation amid ongoing wars on Gaza and Lebanon, and expanding illegal settlements in the occupied West Bank.
In stark contrast to his week-long trip last year, Netanyahu’s compressed schedule included no meetings with U.S. President Donald Trump, key American political figures, or leaders from major Western European allies.
The lack of top-level U.S. engagement reflects increasingly strained ties between Israel and its traditional international partners ahead of Israel's Oct. 27 general election.
A planned meeting in New York with billionaire Elon Musk was also canceled, leaving the Israeli leader without any high-profile U.S. engagements on his agenda.
Israel's former ambassador to Washington, Michael Oren, said he could not recall a time when an Israeli prime minister visited the U.S. without meeting the president, describing this as a blow for Netanyahu ahead of Israel's Oct. 27 general election.
"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," said Michael Oren, a former Israeli ambassador to Washington.
"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."
Alon Liel, a retired ambassador and former director general of Israel's Foreign Ministry, offered an even harsher assessment of the prime minister's brief stopover.
"Never before has there been such a humiliating visit to the UN for an Israeli prime minister," Liel said.
"Netanyahu can meet with Argentine and Greek leaders, but he cannot meet with any American politician or official. That means not only Europeans, but Americans are running away from him too," he added.
"I think this is the big blow; because the U.S. is the only country in the world where Netanyahu could go. Now he has fallen into a situation where he does not feel comfortable even in the U.S., unable to even stay overnight in New York," he said.
Liel added that Netanyahu is behaving "like a persona non grata even in the U.S." during an extraordinary period of international pressure.
Two Israeli officials confirmed Netanyahu would spend under eight hours in New York before flying back to Israel. His office defended the schedule, stating that numerous world leaders had requested bilateral meetings, but the prime minister could accommodate only a limited number due to time constraints and the need to return before the onset of the Jewish holiday of Sukkot.
According to his office, Netanyahu's itinerary features meetings with the presidents of Argentina, Bolivia, Paraguay, Panama, and Ethiopia; the vice president of Colombia; and the prime ministers of Greece, Slovenia, and Papua New Guinea. Conspicuously absent were officials from Washington or European powers like Britain and France.
The absence of a meeting with Trump comes despite the two leaders jointly launching a war on Iran in February. While Trump has met with Netanyahu eight times during his second presidential term – most recently in July – cracks emerged in the alliance as Washington sought an exit strategy. An interim U.S.-Iran agreement signed in June drew sharp opposition from Israel before unraveling weeks later.
Public backing for Israel in the U.S. has dropped significantly since the former launched a genocidal war on Gaza following the Oct. 7, 2023 Hamas incursion.
Domestically, Netanyahu faces severe political headwinds, with opinion polls indicating he could lose the upcoming election as his national security standing remains damaged by the Oct. 7 breach.
Diplomatic friction with European capitals has deepened over military actions in Gaza and Lebanon, as well as Israel's push to activate the controversial E1 settlement project in the occupied West Bank.
The development plan aims to sever occupied East Jerusalem from the West Bank while dividing the northern and southern sections of the Palestinian territory, drawing sharp condemnation from London and other European governments.
In response, 12 Western nations – including Britain, France, and Canada – announced or implemented sanctions against illegal Jewish settlements in the West Bank. Washington offered only a muted response to the Western sanctions, further signaling Tel Aviv's waning diplomatic shield.
Israel responded aggressively to London’s measures. Israeli authorities ordered the closure of Britain’s consulate serving Palestinians in occupied East Jerusalem, expelled British representatives in Kiryat Gat, terminated participation in training programs for Palestinian Authority security forces and barred 12 British citizens, mostly members of parliament, from entering the country.
"Compared to before Oct. 7, 2023, we are in a much weaker position internationally, including in the Middle East," Liel emphasized, highlighting how international isolation has intensified since last year's U.N. assembly, when several Western nations moved toward recognizing a Palestinian state.
"This is definitely not a normal visit. It is not normal in terms of the political objections against him, the speeches made against Israel at the U.N.," he said.
