Netanyahu Addresses UN General Assembly Amid Expected Protests

NEW YORK CITY (WABC) — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is scheduled to address the United Nations General Assembly on Thursday as demonstrations are expected near U.N. headquarters. The visit comes amid escalating tensions over the war in Gaza, rising concerns about antisemitism and an increasingly heated exchange with New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani.

Netanyahu was traveling to New York City Thursday and was expected to land at a military base before heading to the East Side, near the United Nations. Protesters gathered Wednesday in the park across from U.N. headquarters ahead of his arrival, and activists were expected to return as the Israeli prime minister prepared to speak to world leaders.

The address comes as Netanyahu and his government’s conduct of the Gaza war face intense international scrutiny. Pro-Palestinian demonstrators and supporters of Israel have continued to confront one another over the conflict, making criticism of the Israeli leader a prominent issue during the United Nations gathering.

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Netanyahu is also expected to answer Mamdani, who has said he believes the Israeli prime minister should be arrested as a war criminal. Mamdani acknowledged earlier this week that New York City lacks the authority to make such an arrest, but he continued to defend his position.

Demonstrators who gathered Wednesday voiced strong opinions about the growing dispute between Mamdani and Netanyahu.

“The one inciting violence is the one claiming there will be no Palestinian state,” said Kylian Amato, a pro-Palestinian protester.

A rabbi who supports Netanyahu pushed back against the New York mayor’s remarks.

“The mayor can’t expect to use words like genocide and apartheid and war crimes and point to the prime minister of a democratically elected country, and say this man needs to be arrested. You can’t say those things and expect they’re not going to have consequences in real life.”

Netanyahu was scheduled to address the General Assembly at 2 p.m. Thursday and was expected to meet with other world leaders during his New York visit. Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas was also scheduled to deliver a virtual address to the United Nations Thursday morning.

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