Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu landed in the New York area on Thursday morning ahead of a scheduled address to the UN General Assembly, in a visit officials described as unusually brief and without any planned meeting with U.S. President Donald Trump.
Netanyahu and his wife, Sara, arrived aboard the Wing of Zion aircraft at Stewart International Airport in the Hudson Valley, roughly 60 miles north of Manhattan, after departing overnight from an airbase in southern Israel for security reasons. They were received by Israel’s consul general in New York along with Israeli and U.S. military personnel. Journalists were not brought aboard the flight, departing from Netanyahu’s usual practice.
The prime minister’s office said his time in the United States would total only a few hours, with his address to the General Assembly scheduled for the evening, local time. Officials cited security concerns and the approach of the Jewish holiday of Sukkot, which begins Friday, as factors behind the condensed schedule.
Netanyahu’s appearance is expected to focus heavily on Iran, alongside the war in Gaza and violence in the West Bank. His office said the speech would run significantly longer than the Assembly’s customary length. Ahead of his departure, Netanyahu said he intended to counter what he described as false narratives being advanced against Israel at the UN.
His arrival drew both protests and rival demonstrations of support in New York, with security officials bracing for a hostile reception inside the chamber, including the possibility of a diplomatic walkout, following a pattern seen during his address to last year’s session. The International Criminal Court issued an arrest warrant for Netanyahu in 2024 over alleged war crimes in Gaza; the United States, which is not a member of the court, has said it will not act on the warrant.
The visit coincides with intensive diplomatic activity in New York surrounding Iran, with the Trump administration signaling that a diplomatic channel with Tehran remains open, even as no meeting between U.S. and Iranian officials has been confirmed this week.
Separately, Israeli Ambassador to the U.S. Yechiel Leiter returned to Israel on Wednesday after his son was critically injured in a car-ramming attack in the West Bank.
