The UN General Assembly will convene next week at its New York headquarters, and Diplomatic Analyst Tamir Morag provided an explainer ahead of the major event on “Midday News.” Morag said the prime minister will speak Thursday at 2 p.m. Eastern time—9 p.m. Israel time—at the important assembly, as he has done several times before. The timing of the speech is no accident, aimed at Israeli prime time, with expectations that the content will be directed at the Israeli public ahead of elections—no less than at listeners around the world.
1+Several hours ago, the ban on Abbas’s entry to the United States became official when the State Department published its announcement that Abbas and members of the PA delegation will be under sanctions that will not allow them to enter the U.S. and attend the UN General Assembly. The State Department’s justification cited the Authority’s continued support for terrorism, both in rhetoric and through salary payments to terrorists known as pay-for-slay, as well as continued incitement in textbooks and in speeches by PA officials, including Abbas.
Additional reasons for the entry ban on Abbas are the ‘Palestinians” appeals to two international courts: the International Court of Justice, where proceedings are underway against the State of Israel, and the International Criminal Court, which issued arrest warrants for Prime Minister Netanyahu and former Defense Minister Gallant. These steps by the PA have a price, and Abbas will be forced once again to address the UN General Assembly via video—and not travel to New York.
1+Morag was also asked about reports that Netanyahu requested a meeting with Trump on the sidelines of the assembly. On this, he said it’s not certain they’ll manage to arrange the meeting. New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani has tried to prevent the prime minister from coming to New York and threatened to arrest him—a threat that proved empty since the mayor cannot do so.