Netanyahu in US to address UN, meet with Trump

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu landed on Thursday in New York, where he will address the United Nations General Assembly before meeting with President Donald Trump at the White House.

“At the Assembly, I will speak the truth—the truth of Israel’s citizens, the truth of IDF soldiers, the truth of our state,” said Netanyahu before his departure early Thursday morning. “I will denounce those leaders who, instead of condemning the murderers, rapists and child-burners, seek to grant them a state in the heart of the Land of Israel. That will not happen.”

On Wednesday night, Netanyahu condemned the recognition of a Palestinian state by several Western countries—including France, the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, Portugal, Belgium, Luxembourg, Malta and Monaco—as a “shameful surrender,” asserting that capitulating to Palestinian terrorism would not obligate Israel in any way.

“A Palestinian state will not be established,” he declared.

Netanyahu said that in Washington he would meet for the fourth time with Trump to discuss the opportunities created by Israel’s recent victories, as well as the need to complete the objectives of the war: securing the return of all 48 hostages, defeating Hamas and expanding the circle of peace.