Netanyahu takes UN stage with one eye on Israel’s election

As criticism of Israel intensifies, Israeli PM Netanyahu heads to the UN with his own political future in focus.

People demonstrate against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his arrival to attend the 81st United Nations General Assembly (UNGA), at Union Square in New York, US, September 24, 2026. REUTERS/Bing Guan (Reuters)

When Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu takes to his feet at the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) in New York later on Thursday, he does so at a critical point in both his political career and in his country’s long and fractious relationship with the international body.

Israel has faced repeated accusations of genocide at the UN, as well as systematic war crimes in Gaza and the occupied West Bank. Those criticisms continue to shape the country’s fractious relationship with the body.

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For Netanyahu, appearing in front of the UNGA for the 15th time, the stakes have rarely been higher. Addressing a domestic Israeli audience that polls show to be losing faith in him and his Likud party in the run-up to crucial elections later this year, Netanyahu has already pitched himself as Israel’s primary voice on the international stage.

Nevertheless, analysts say Netanyahu’s address could prove a pivotal moment domestically, amplified by international criticism of Israel and expected to dominate headlines and be carried live across the country’s television networks.

“This is a regular fixture for him,” former Israeli consul general in New York and ex-government adviser, Alon Pinkas, told Al Jazeera. “It’s his way of being seen in Israel as standing up against the world and of telling members that he will never give up or surrender. He’s also turned the event into some kind of national holiday in Israel, with everyone sitting down to watch the address on television. He’s brainwashed people in Israel into believing his speech is somehow an announcement of policy, stated in defiance of the [rest of the world] who don’t believe a word he says.”

A history of hostility

Israeli leaders have long framed their stance towards the UN as one of defiance in the face of hostility. The UN has long been a platform for critics of Israel’s illegal occupation of Palestinian land and repeated attacks on its neighbours. It has included attempts to censure Israel over what UN investigators have described as apartheid in the West Bank, as well as accusations of genocide and pogroms across the occupied Palestinian territory since October 2023.

There have been numerous UNGA resolutions criticising Israel’s conduct – nearly all dismissed by Israeli lawmakers as evidence of institutional bias – culminating in Israel declaring UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres persona non grata and severely restricting the operations of the UN’s agency for Palestinian refugees, UNRWA.

Israel’s permanent representative to the UN, Danny Danon, at a United Nations Security Council meeting at the UN headquarters in New York [AFP]

“Generally speaking, many Israelis tend to see the UN as anti-Israeli,” Nimrod Goren, the president of the Israeli Institute for Regional Foreign Policies, Mitvim, said.

Against that background, criticism from New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani – already cast as anti-Israel in the Israeli press – has drawn greater public attention to the event. Underscoring the sense of hostility towards Israel are stories within the country’s media suggesting that Netanyahu’s visit to New York has been curtailed due to unspecified security concerns, with the Israeli premier expected to fly out of New York on the same day as his arrival.

In response, Israel’s ambassador to the UN, Danny Danon, who has repeatedly accused the organisation of waging “diplomatic terrorism” against the state, called for Mamdani’s arrest for what he said was the mayor’s incitement against New York’s Jewish community before Netanyahu’s visit.

“Netanyahu is going into his UNGA speech with not one but both eyes focused firmly on the upcoming Israeli election,” Goren said. “The speech is usually treated in Israel as a major event, receiving broad coverage and dominating the news cycle. Netanyahu will likely try to leverage this to bolster his image as a close ally of the US and to talk up the threat posed by Iran.”

Some have interpreted US President Donald Trump’s apparent lack of availability to meet Netanyahu during this trip as a sign of waning support. But US backing for Israel at the UN has remained steadfast since the October 7 attack and has contributed to growing frustration within the UN over what they see as Israel’s ability to resist international censure.

Alongside the creation of the Board of Peace, which shifted significant responsibility for Gaza’s future from the UN to the Trump-founded organisation, Washington has repeatedly used its veto at the UN Security Council (UNSC) to shield Israel from resolutions it opposes. The US has vetoed at least six UNSC resolutions on Gaza since October 2023, most of them demanding an immediate ceasefire.

“There seems to be genuine frustration within the UN General Assembly over the body’s failure to play a significant political role in Gaza and the West Bank, but also in its failure to protect its own staff and agencies,” Chatham House Associate Fellow Zizette Darkazally, who previously worked with the UN, said.

“However, it’s worth remembering the context the UN operates within in the occupied territories and the important humanitarian role it plays. The UN continues to get aid and medical support into Gaza and the West Bank, which are both areas where Israel has absolute control over access,” she said. “It’s also worth remembering that the UN is only as strong as the commitment of its member states.

“That, combined with a system of veto that’s more than 80 years old, has left the organisation weaker now than it had ever been,” she said of the confrontations between the UN and Israel. “And we’re seeing the effects of that, not just in Palestine, but in Yemen, Sudan and Iran, where the UN is playing next to no political role.”

随着对以色列的批评愈演愈烈，以色列总理内塔尼亚胡前往联合国，他自己的政治前途也备受关注。

2026年9月24日，在美国纽约联合广场，民众举行示威游行，抗议以色列总理本雅明·内塔尼亚胡抵达美国出席第81届联合国大会。路透社/关冰（路透社）

周四晚些时候，当以色列总理本雅明·内塔尼亚胡在纽约联合国大会上起立演讲时，这既是他政治生涯的关键时刻，也是以色列与该国际机构之间长期而充满摩擦的关系的关键时刻。

以色列在联合国屡次面临种族灭绝指控，以及在加沙和被占领的西岸地区犯下系统性战争罪行的指控。这些批评持续影响着该国与联合国之间紧张的关系。

列表 1/4：以色列人现在是否感觉比 2023 年 10 月 6 日更安全？

联合国称美国船艇袭击可能构成“反人类罪”的原因（共4条，此为第2条）

名单中的第三位：美国参议员在联合国大会访问前谴责内塔尼亚胡是“惯于撒谎者”。

（共4条，第4条）尽管纽约方面展开了密集的斡旋，美伊协议仍然遥遥无期。

对内塔尼亚胡而言，这是他第15次在联合国大会上露面，其重要性鲜有匹敌。民调显示，在今年晚些时候的关键大选临近之际，以色列国内民众对他及其利库德集团的信心正在逐渐丧失。尽管如此，内塔尼亚胡已将自己塑造成以色列在国际舞台上的主要代言人。

不过，分析人士表示，内塔尼亚胡的讲话可能成为国内的一个关键时刻，在国际社会对以色列的批评声中，这一时刻将被放大，预计将占据各大媒体的头条，并在全国各大电视网络上进行现场直播。

“这对他来说已经成了惯例，”以色列前驻纽约总领事、前政府顾问阿隆·平卡斯告诉半岛电视台。“这是他在以色列国内展现自己对抗世界形象的一种方式，也是他向以色列民众表明自己永不放弃、永不投降的方式。他还把这次活动变成了以色列的某种全国性节日，所有人都会坐下来观看电视直播。他已经给以色列民众洗脑，让他们相信他的演讲是一种政策声明，是对那些根本不相信他话的[世界其他国家]的公然挑衅。”

敌对的历史

以色列领导人长期以来一直将他们对联合国的态度定义为面对敌意的对抗。联合国长期以来一直是批评以色列非法占领巴勒斯坦土地及其屡次袭击邻国的平台。这其中包括对以色列在西岸实施的、被联合国调查人员称为种族隔离的政策进行谴责，以及对以色列自2023年10月以来在被占领的巴勒斯坦领土上犯下的种族灭绝和屠杀的指控。

联合国大会通过了多项决议批评以色列的行为——几乎所有决议都被以色列议员斥为制度偏见的证据——最终导致以色列宣布联合国秘书长安东尼奥·古特雷斯为不受欢迎的人，并严重限制了联合国巴勒斯坦难民救济和工程处（近东救济工程处）的运作。

以色列常驻联合国代表丹尼·达农在纽约联合国总部举行的联合国安理会会议上发表讲话。[法新社]

“总的来说，许多以色列人倾向于认为联合国是反以色列的，”以色列区域外交政策研究所 (Mitvim) 所长尼姆罗德·戈伦 (Nimrod Goren) 说。

在此背景下，纽约市长佐兰·马姆达尼（Zohran Mamdani）的批评——他已被以色列媒体贴上反以色列的标签——使此次事件获得了更多公众关注。以色列媒体报道称，由于不明安全原因，内塔尼亚胡的纽约之行已被缩短，预计这位以色列总理将在抵达纽约的当天离开，这进一步凸显了以色列的敌意。

对此，以色列驻联合国大使丹尼·达农多次指责联合国对以色列发动“外交恐怖主义”，他呼吁逮捕马姆达尼，称这位市长在内塔尼亚胡访问纽约之前煽动反对纽约犹太社区。

戈伦表示：“内塔尼亚胡在联合国大会上发表讲话时，目光无疑牢牢锁定在即将到来的以色列大选上。在以色列，这次讲话通常被视为一件大事，会得到广泛报道，占据新闻头条。内塔尼亚胡很可能会利用这一点来巩固他作为美国亲密盟友的形象，并夸大伊朗构成的威胁。”

一些人将美国总统特朗普此次访问期间明显缺乏与内塔尼亚胡会面的机会解读为美国支持力度减弱的迹象。但自10月7日袭击事件以来，美国在联合国对以色列的支持始终坚定不移，这加剧了联合国内部对以色列抵御国际谴责能力的日益不满。

随着和平委员会的成立，加沙未来的重大责任从联合国转移到了特朗普创立的这个组织，华盛顿还多次动用其在联合国安理会的否决权，阻止以色列通过其反对的决议。自2023年10月以来，美国至少否决了六项关于加沙的安理会决议，其中大多数决议都要求立即停火。

“联合国大会似乎对联合国未能就加沙和西岸问题发挥重要的政治作用感到真正的沮丧，同时也对联合国未能保护其工作人员和机构感到沮丧，”曾与联合国合作过的查塔姆研究所副研究员齐泽特·达卡扎利说。

“然而，我们必须记住联合国在被占领土开展工作的背景，以及它所发挥的重要人道主义作用。联合国持续向加沙和西岸地区提供援助和医疗支持，而以色列对这两个地区的准入拥有绝对控制权，”她说道。“同样值得注意的是，联合国的力量取决于其成员国的承诺。”

她谈到联合国与以色列之间的对抗时说：“再加上沿用了80多年的否决权制度，使得联合国如今比以往任何时候都更加虚弱。我们不仅在巴勒斯坦，而且在也门、苏丹和伊朗也看到了这种影响，在这些地方，联合国几乎没有发挥任何政治作用。”