Tel Aviv [Israel]: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will not be travelling to New York for the 74th United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) session scheduled to be held next week.
The announcement was made by Israeli Prime Minister’s Office on Wednesday (local time).
This comes after the incumbent Prime Minister Netanyahu failed to secure sufficient support in elections to form a new government with his right-wing political allies.
The Time of Israel quoted Netanyahu’s office as saying that he would forgo the trip due to the current “political circumstances”. Foreign Minister Israel Katz will attend in Netanyahu’s stead, it said. This also effectively means that he will not be meeting US President Donald Trump.
This will be for the first time since 2010 when Netanyahu will give the UNGA session a miss.
The current elections came after Netanyahu failed to form a government after elections in April. Netanyahu had expressed confidence about retaining power.
Netanyahu had postponed his India visit which was scheduled to take place a week before the elections in Israel.