Jerusalem, Sep 19: Israeli prime minister called off his official address at the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) scheduled for next week in New York after falling behind of securing a majority in Israel’s second general poll to form a new ruling government with his right-wing allies, PM Benjamin Netanyahu’s office announced on Wednesday.
Netanyahu – the longest-serving pioneer in the nation’s history, was seeking a straight fifth term as prime minister, but faced a major setback from his opposition Benny Gantz’s Blue and White party.
On Wednesday, Netanyahu’s office said he will not be participating in the 2019 UNGA, citing the pertaining “political circumstances”, but didn’t further elaborated, according to The Times of Israel.
The UNGA session is scheduled for September 24 to open, a day before when the Central Election Commission (CEC) will declare the final results of Tuesday’s voting and convey it to President Reuven Rivlin.
His absence at the UNGA session would directly mean he would not be meeting United States President Donald Trump, who said on Saturday he looked forward to meeting Netanyahu after the election to discuss potential US-Israel defence pact.
Addressing journalists on Wednesday in Los Angeles, Trump learnt he had not been acknowledged over the recent development with Israel’s election but said, “Our relationship is with Israel.”