• Israeli ambassador to the US Yechiel Leiter confirms his son is the soldier injured in an alleged West Bank car-ramming incident.

Israeli filmmakers face citizenship threats over Venice Film Festival documentary NAZA

Why does this documentary scare Israel so much?

Israeli filmmakers Yuval Abraham and Rachel Szor took the Venice Film Festival by storm with their new film NAZA. Now leaders in their own government want to strip them of citizenship.

Jordan’s foreign minister says Israeli government gambles away region to conflict and suffering

Jordanian Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi says unlawful policies and measures of the Israeli government have been “laid bare” before the world during the UN General Assembly, pointing out that voices are rising globally against the killing of children, the destruction of schools and the starvation of civilians.

In a post on X, Safadi said Israel’s “mouthpieces” are launching desperate campaigns to “distort history” and question the credibility of those who demand respect for international law and are targeting the UN, humanitarian organisations and international leaders.

Safadi said Jordan will continue to expose the “inhumanity of the occupation” and mobilise practical international steps to curb Israeli expansionism, adding that the Israeli government is holding the “future of the entire region hostage to conflict and suffering”.

“The Israeli government must be held accountable for its violation of international law; for the injustice, oppression and deprivation it imposes on the Palestinian people; and for the conflicts it inflicts on the region that threaten international peace and security,” Safadi said.

Netanyahu expected to use UN ⁠address to attack Mamdani ahead of Israeli elections

The Israeli PM is expected to use his UN ⁠address later today to attack New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani for calling him a war criminal, during a short visit to the UNGA that appears set to be used as a campaign speech for the upcoming elections in Israel.

Netanyahu will address the UNGA in New York at 9pm Israel time (18:00 GMT), his office said on X. He is expected to fly back on the same day after delivering his speech. He is also expected to meet the presidents of Argentina, Bolivia, Paraguay, Panama, Ethiopia and the vice president of Colombia, as well as the prime ministers of Greece, Slovenia and Papua New Guinea, the office said.

Netanyahu is unlikely to meet Trump, and his office did not say if meetings were planned with any US officials.

Former Israeli Ambassador Michael Oren, who expects Netanyahu’s UNGA address to resemble a “campaign speech”, told Reuters that the Israeli PM is “not really speaking to the UN; he’s speaking to the Israeli public”.

“Maybe he’s thinking, ‘If I can attack Mamdani and attack the Iranians, somebody who was wavering between voting for me and voting for [Gadi] Eisenkot may decide to vote for me,'” Oren said, referring to former military chief Eisenkot, Netanyahu’s leading rival.

Netanyahu heads to the UN with his own political future in focus

When the Israeli prime minister takes to the UNGA podium, he will do 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.

For Netanyahu, appearing in front of UNGA for the 15th time, the stakes have rarely been higher. Domestically, polls suggest Israelis are losing faith in him and his Likud party before crucial elections next month. Netanyahu has already pitched himself as Israel’s primary voice on the international stage.

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

Knesset member says Arab List ban is illegal, confident supreme court will overturn decision

Ofer Cassif, a member of the Israeli Knesset, representing the Hadash party and the Joint List, has said that he is confident that Israel’s Supreme Court will overturn a decision by Israel’s Central Elections Committee to disqualify him from running on the Joint List in next month’s parliamentary elections.

On Wednesday, the Central Elections Committee voted to bar both main Arab electoral lists – the United Arab List and the Joint List – from the upcoming vote.

“It was predictable because the elections committee consists of political representatives in accordance with the current Knesset structure,” Cassif said.

“So, the coalition has an automatic majority – and we know that the coalition is dominated by fascists, like the Likud party.”

“[The decision] didn’t come as a surprise,” he added, calling it illegal. “It is totally politically motivated, and in the end, the result is that the Palestinian minority within Israel, at the moment, does not have any candidate or list that represents it.”

Cassif said he has supported “non-violent struggle against occupation, against fascism, against the genocide in Gaza, against the ethnic cleansing in the West Bank” and does not subscribe to armed conflict, which could be one of the grounds for disqualification.

Amnesty accuses France of ‘double standard’ over Netanyahu overflight

Rights group Amnesty International has accused France of applying a “double standard” after it allowed Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s plane in its airspace, while President Emmanuel Macron called for international law to be respected.

“Does France not contribute to impunity when it allows access to its territory to the Israeli prime minister, who is wanted for crimes against humanity?” Amnesty posted on X.

The rights group said Macron made “fine statements” at the UN General Assembly on Tuesday about defending international law and justice, while France that same day, authorised Netanyahu’s plane to fly over its territory for a fifth time.

The London-based group also questioned France’s position on Gaza, citing Macron’s statement: “But what is our credibility if we continue to remain inactive in the face of Gaza?”

Amnesty responded: “Does France not risk actively participating in the genocide in Gaza by maintaining its transfers of military equipment to Israel?”

France defends decision to allow Netanyahu overflight despite ICC warrant

French Foreign Ministry spokesperson Pascal ⁠Confavreux has told reporters that ‌the decision to let Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s plane cross France’s airspace en ⁠route to the ⁠United Nations was “in full conformity with international law”, despite an International Criminal Court arrest warrant against Netanyahu for war crimes.

“The Rome Statute does not impose any obligations regarding overflights of its territory by a state plane which has a passenger who is targeted by an arrest warrant,” Confavreux said, according to Reuters.

Netanyahu is unable to ‌travel to several countries because of the arrest warrant issued against him in 2024. France is ⁠a signatory of the ICC’s founding Rome Statute and is formally bound to cooperate with the court, including arresting suspects who enter its territory.

Flight-tracking app Flightradar24 showed Netanyahu’s plane flew over Greece, Italy and France.

Netanyahu policies ‘led to Gaza destruction’: NYC Jewish organization

A New York City-based organization has said the Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu “is not welcome”, as Jewish organisations protest his address to the UN General Assembly on Thursday.

The New Jewish Narrative organization said they are “protesting because Netanyahu ignored the warnings before October 7 and left Israel vulnerable to the Hamas attack”.

The organization said Netanyahu’s policies “led to the destruction of Gaza, the starvation of civilians, and the deaths of tens of thousands of people”.

“This protest is a call for accountability. It is a testament to our desire to see an Israeli government that changes its behaviour and starts putting the future of Israelis and Palestinians above the political survival of individual people”, the New Jewish Narrative added.

Jewish organization says UN hosts ‘war criminal’ ahead of Netanyahu speech

Jewish Voice for Peace says the United Nations is “playing host to a war criminal” as the US-based organization protests Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s address to the UN General Assembly on Thursday.

“All across New York, Jews, Palestinians and people of conscience are rising up to demand an end to US support for the live-streamed horrors, rigged ceasefires and forever wars,” Communications Director Sonya Meyerson-Knox told Al Jazeera.

Meyerson-Knox said that “solidarity with Palestinian freedom has never been greater, and here in the US we are demanding with one voice to stop arming Israel”.

Police detain demonstrators denouncing Netanyahu ahead of his UN speech

The New York City Police Department (NYPD) has detained a number of protesters rallying against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and continued Israeli violence in the Palestinian territories outside the United Nations building.

The Israeli prime minister is due to address the UN General Assembly momentarily.

Netanyahu takes podium at UNGA

The Israeli prime minister is now addressing the UNGA in New York.

Dozens of diplomats walk out as Netanyahu takes stage

Many delegations representing dozens of countries have left the assembly hall as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu takes the stage.

He called those who left “moral cowards”.

Netanyahu claims Israel prevented Iran from developing nuclear weapons

In his opening remarks to UNGA, Netanyahu said that he had “vowed to prevent Iran’s murderous dictatorship from developing atomic bombs, nuclear weapons aimed at destroying Israel, nuclear weapons that could threaten the entire world”.

“That’s exactly what we did … Devastating Iran’s nuclear facilities was hard. It was very hard to do. But for me, it was one of the easiest decisions I’ve ever had to make as prime minister, because if we hadn’t done it, we’d all be dead,” said Netanyahu.

Iran has repeatedly asserted that it hasn’t developed a nuclear weapon, with the IAEA also stating they have found no evidence of this.

Netanyahu addresses Syria’s al-Sharaa by name, details claim on Golan Heights

Israel’s prime minister has addressed Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa by name, saying he “should know” that the Jewish people have been in the Golan Heights since the “days of Moses”.

His remarks come after al-Sharaa addressed the UNGA on Tuesday and demanded the withdrawal of Israeli forces from the Syrian territory.

Netanyahu added that Israel is being accused of “colonialism” by countries like France and the UK, who “invented the term”.

Along with US, Israel ‘crushed’ Iran’s military, Netanyahu says

The Israeli prime minister repeated claims made by the US President Donald Trump, stating that the US and Israel “crushed” the Iranian military and nuclear capabilities.

“With our great American friends, we crushed Iran’s army, navy, air force, and nuclear facilities,” Netanyahu said.

Netanyahu said Israel is fighting a “seven-front war” against Hamas, Hezbollah, the Houthis, Iran, as well as groups in Iraq, Syria, and Palestine.

Netanyahu pulls out pager, says Hezbollah ‘remembers’ attack that wounded nearly 3,000 in Lebanon

While claiming that Israel “hammered Hamas, pummeled Hezbollah” as it fought a seven-front war, Netanyahu took out a pager and asked the audience: “Do you remember these?”

“Certainly Hezbollah remembers them,” he added. The comment was met with applause.

The Israeli prime minister was referencing a 2024 attack orchestrated by Israel when thousands of pagers exploded nearly simultaneously in Lebanon, killing nine people and wounding about 3,000.

Netanyahu claims mass settler violence carried out by handful of ‘young juvenile delinquents’

In his address to UNGA, Netanyahu claimed that settler violence across the occupied West Bank is carried out by just a “handful of young juvenile delinquents, about 150 in number, who throw stones and chop down olive trees. Occasionally, they do fire up, they light some fires.”

Netanyahu claimed he doesn’t support their actions against Palestinians, saying, “I can’t stand that. I won’t stand for vigilantism. We’re a country of law, so we put our Shin Bet [domestic security agency] on them.”

Israeli human rights group B’Tselem and several international human rights organisations, including Human Rights Watch, have stated that Israeli settler violence is a systemic, state-backed tool used to achieve broader territorial goals, rather than an isolated issue driven by a few “bad apples”.

Netanyahu then downplayed the number of victims of Israeli settler violence, saying, “The number of casualties a year – maybe two, three – in the total time that this is being discussed – maybe two or three dead, compared to the thousands of terrorist attacks against the peaceful settlers, honourable people, law-abiding people. What a distortion!”

According to B’Tselem, settler militias have killed at least 35 Palestinians since October 2023.

Netanyahu says ‘no greater partner’ for Israel than Trump

The Israeli prime minister says his country has “had no greater partner” than US President Donald Trump.

“I thank him for his bold leadership. He boldly confronted an enormous danger to America, Israel and the world,” he added in reference to Trump’s decision to launch a joint war on Iran with Israel.

Netanyahu claimed that Iran would have “carried out their mad fantasies” if the US and Israel had not attacked Iran.

Netanyahu claims Turkiye has become a ‘superspreader of anti-semitism’

During his address to UNGA, Netanyahu claimed that Turkiye has become “the latest country to become a super spreader of anti-Semitic lies”.

Netanyahu then leveled a lot of accusations against Turkish President Recep Erdoğan, describing him as “a tyrant” and claiming that he “hosts the Hamas terror chiefs. He has murdered thousands of Kurdish civilians. He denies the Armenian genocide. He jails journalists and opposition leaders”.

Netanyahu continued: “I think he holds the world’s record on this, and that’s a tough call. But I think he’s number one. He illegally occupies Northern Cyprus, an EU member, and he regularly transgresses against Greece, a NATO member”.

Lastly, Netanyahu claimed that Erdogan “wants to take over Syria”, adding “that’s not surprising, because he calls for Israel’s destruction almost every single day, he says he’s going to be the ruler of Jerusalem. No, sir, you won’t”.

Netanyahu denounces New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani

More from the Israeli prime minister.

“So, to all those that are spreading these lies about my country or my brave soldiers, whether they sit in this hall or in the office of the anti-semitic mayor of New York, I say this: ‘Shame on you. Shame on you for distorting the facts.’”

On Tuesday, Netanyahu lambasted the mayor on social media, saying, “I’m coming to the UN, I’m going to tell the truth about our heroic soldiers, and I’m going to tell the truth about you.”

The International Criminal Court issued an arrest warrant for Netanyahu in 2024, charging him with committing war crimes during Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza.

Mamdani doubled down on calls to arrest Netanyahu in July, saying, “I agree with the ICC that Benjamin Netanyahu should be tried and arrested for his crimes.”

Netanyahu in his UNGA address

As Netanyahu took the stage to deliver his address, many delegations representing dozens of countries left the assembly hall, whom the Israeli premier labelled as “moral cowards”.

• Netanyahu claimed Israel prevented Iran from developing nuclear weapons, saying that “devastating Iran’s nuclear facilities was hard” but that it was “one of the easiest decisions I’ve ever had to make as prime minister, because if we hadn’t done it, we’d all be dead”.
• The Israeli prime minister repeated claims made by President Donald Trump, stating that the US and Israel “crushed” the Iranian military and nuclear capabilities.
• Netanyahu said that Israel is fighting a “seven-front war” against Hamas, Hezbollah, the Houthis, Iran, as well as groups in Iraq, Syria, and Palestine.
• Netanyahu claimed that settler violence across the occupied West Bank is carried out by just a “handful of young juvenile delinquents” and downplayed the number of Palestinian casualties from these attacks.
• The Israeli premier said his country has “had no greater partner” than Trump.
• Netanyahu denounced New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani: “So, to all those that are spreading these lies about my country or my brave soldiers – whether they sit in this hall or in the office of the anti-Semitic mayor of New York – I say this: ‘Shame on you. Shame on you for distorting the facts.’”

Netanyahu delivered ‘good speech’ to ‘wrong forum’

Ariel Cohen, a senior fellow at the Atlantic Council’s Eurasia Center, has argued that the Israeli prime minister is a “strong orator” who delivered a “good speech” at the UNGA, but that he did so in the “wrong forum.”

“That speech should be given at an election rally in Israel, this is who he’s communicating to,” Cohen said. “He is making points that should be made to the Israeli audience for his political survival.”

The analyst noted that Netanyahu did not use the international platform for “outreach”, including towards Arab nations in a bid to revive the Abraham Accords

Netanyahu’s speech served to alienate all countries except US

Netanyahu’s speech certainly didn’t make him any friends and was directed primarily to Israelis, says Marwan Bishara, a senior political analyst.

“He sure made no friends today, but he did make a lot of enemies. Even those who had to leave the hall because they were under pressure from certain other members would not take it kindly that he called them cowards,” Bishara said.

“Unlike his previous two speeches that were addressed to the international community and President Trump, this very particular speech during election time in Israel was addressed to … Israelis,” said Bishara.

In other words, “he was talking at the UN delegates, but he was talking to the Israeli public” in the run-up to the country’s elections next month.

What is interesting is that he even attacked Western nations, Bishara said, posing the question: “How can you claim to defend Western civilisation when you’re attacking the French and the British and the Europeans?”

Bishara continued, “When you say that they came up with the concept of colonialism, well, in fact, if they did come with the concept of colonialism, they should know it when they see it. And they’ve been saying again and again that Israel is a colonial power when it comes to the Israel-Palestine issue”.

The only friend Netanyahu perhaps made with his speech was Trump, whom he needs “because if he doesn’t have the United States on his side, he probably has no one on his side,” concluded Bishara.

Mamdani says Netanyahu attempting to ‘sanitise genocide’ of Palestinians

New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani has said Israel’s prime minister used his speech at UNGA to “repeat baseless lies meant to sanitise his genocide of Palestinians”.

“Yet no lie can change the fact that he remains the subject of an International Criminal Court arrest warrant alleging war crimes and crimes against humanity,” he said in a statement.

Netanyahu attacked Mamdani during his speech, accusing him of “spreading lies”.

Hamas denounces Netanyahu’s speech as ‘rife with lies’

Hamas has denounced Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s address at the UN General Assembly as “rife with lies”.

The Palestinian group said in a statement that Netanyahu’s “denial of the systematic genocide” is contradicted by UN reports.

“We warn against the occupation’s terrorist and criminal schemes in the occupied West Bank, as well as war criminal Netanyahu’s denial of the Palestinian people’s existence there and his legitimization of settler crimes against the local population,” Hamas said.

Netanyahu, in his speech, denied “accusations of genocide” and downplayed settler violence across the occupied West Bank.

Qatari diplomat condemns Netanyahu for comments regarding Hamas base in Doha

Hamad al-Muftah, deputy chief of mission at the Qatari Embassy in Washington, has condemned Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s comments regarding Hamas’s operations in Doha.

“You … know exactly why Hamas representatives have been based in Doha: Qatar has served as a communications channel and mediator in negotiations involving Israel, Hamas, the United States and Egypt,” said al-Muftah in a post on social media.

“US officials have repeatedly described Qatar’s mediation role as critical or indispensable. At a moment of profound regional and domestic political turmoil, attacking one of the countries doing the difficult work of mediation does nothing to solve the problem.”

Qatar has said that the US requested it establish a base for Hamas political leaders in Doha in 2021. Hamas negotiators vacated the office in November 2024, though the office has not been closed.

Qatar ‘categorically rejects’ Netanyahu’s claims over anti-Israel campaign

Qatar categorically rejects claims by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the UN General Assembly that Doha is running a campaign to influence public opinion against Israel.

Netanyahu had lashed out during his speech by accusing Qatar of pouring huge sums of money into American universities to “brainwash young people” into hating Israel and the West.

“This continuing rhetoric against Qatar is nothing more than an attempt to divert attention from the atrocities committed by his government in the occupied Palestinian territories and their grave humanitarian consequences,” Foreign Ministry spokesperson Majed Al-Ansari said in a post on X.

Al-Ansari said that “reducing the global shift in public opinion to allegations of influence campaigns insults a generation witnessing events in real time”. He added that “if Israeli politicians addressing empty halls want the world to view Israel differently, they should change their policies and respect international law instead of searching for scapegoats”.

Qatar of pouring huge sums of money into American universities to “brainwash young people” into hating Israel and the West.

It where the Israelis, who poured huge sums of money during the university student protests