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Israel's Netanyahu Expected to Denounce Enemies, Allies with UN Spotlight

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks during a toast-raising event hosted by his Likud party, in Tel Aviv, Israel, September 17, 2026. REUTERS/Amir Cohen
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks during a toast-raising event hosted by his Likud party, in Tel Aviv, Israel, September 17, 2026. REUTERS/Amir Cohen
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Israel's Netanyahu Expected to Denounce Enemies, Allies with UN Spotlight

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks during a toast-raising event hosted by his Likud party, in Tel Aviv, Israel, September 17, 2026. REUTERS/Amir Cohen
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks during a toast-raising event hosted by his Likud party, in Tel Aviv, Israel, September 17, 2026. REUTERS/Amir Cohen

Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, facing a difficult reelection campaign at home, addresses the UN Thursday where he is expected to lash out at both enemies as well as allies that have crossed him in recent months.

Netanyahu will also likely raise the case of Israeli ambassador to Washington Yechiel Leiter whose son, a soldier, was badly injured in an alleged Palestinian ramming attack in the occupied West Bank, reported AFP.

Foremost among Netanyahu's enemies in New York is the city's leftist Mayor Zohran Mamdani who recently vowed to execute an ICC arrest warrant when the visiting leader arrived in the city for the UN's signature gathering.

The Hague-based International Criminal Court (ICC) said in 2024 it had reasonable grounds to believe Netanyahu was responsible for alleged war crimes in his Gaza campaign that responded to Hamas' deadly October 7, 2023 attacks. Netanyahu denies the ICC claims.

But Mamdani later conceded he did not have the authority for such a maneuver, leading to howls of indignation from Netanyahu and his backers.

Ahead of his turn at the UN's signature diplomatic week, Netanyahu said he was going to "tell the truth about you," addressing Mamdani and accusing him of "supporting the Hamas terrorist monsters."

He also baselessly accused Mamdani of "inciting riots against New York Jews."

Mamdani, who has long supported Palestinian rights and accused Israel of war crimes, fired back Tuesday and said "we all know that what the prime minister has said in that video is not true."

One of Netanyahu's fiercest critics, Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas, will not be in the room after Washington denied him a visa to attend.

Erstwhile allies of Israel Britain and France will likely be in Netanyahu's firing line Thursday.

Britain has imposed limited sanctions on Israeli exports from the occupied West Bank, a move France recently followed on.

French President Emmanuel Macron drew Israel's ire for claiming Hamas was not active in the West Bank. Hamas' stronghold has traditionally been Gaza.

Netanyahu's office attacked "the gross absurdity of the claim," adding Hamas attacks "Jews almost every day."

"They have murdered countless Israeli civilians in Judea and Samaria," it added, using the Biblical name for the West Bank, which Israel seized in 1967.

Netanyahu already had poor relations with Macron, who led a push by Western nations at last year's UN General Assembly to recognize a Palestinian state.

Iran, which Israel and the United States have been at war with since launching attacks in February, will almost certainly feature in Netanyahu's speech.

Israel is insisting Washington take more comprehensive military action in Iran to prevent Tehran from obtaining nuclear weapons.

- Ferocious criticism of UN -

But the war is unpopular with the US public, and gas prices have surged in its wake.

Israel's ambassador to the UN Danny Dannon said after Iran's president spoke Wednesday that Tehran "arms Hezbollah in Lebanon, the Houthis in Yemen, Hamas in Gaza and Judea and Samaria, and militias in Iraq."

He called it a "regime that murders its own citizens when they dare to protest against it."

Netanyahu will almost certainly criticize the United Nations and its outgoing leader Antonio Guterres of whom he has been a persistent critic, even more so since the October 7, 2023 Hamas attacks on Israel.

Unusually, Guterres this week referenced in full the title of legally binding International Criminal Court measures that accuse Israel of "genocide" in Gaza.

Netanyahu's government has repeatedly accused a UN agency of providing cover for Hamas militants, claiming that some of its employees took part in the group's attack on Israel that sparked the war in Gaza.

Despite a US-brokered ceasefire in October 2025, Israel has continued its airstrikes and restricted entry of equipment that international groups say is required for the territory's reconstruction to begin.

Acting Commissioner-General of the UN's Palestinian refugees agency Christian Saunders told AFP this week Israel was being "extremely difficult" about letting in vital supplies like engine oil to Gaza for relief operations while permitting luxury commercial products.

"I think (the Israeli government) are trying to show the Israeli public why they should re-elect them," Saunders added.

As in past years when Netanyahu has addressed the UN General Assembly, he faces protest both inside and outside -- from delegations leaving the meeting in opposition to his policies, and demonstrators gathered nearby.

Israelis go to the polls on October 27.

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World

Iran Says Two Tankers and Tugboat Caught Fire in Hormuz

FILE PHOTO: Vessels at the Strait of Hormuz, as seen from Musandam, Oman, November 3, 2026. REUTERS/Stringer/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: Vessels at the Strait of Hormuz, as seen from Musandam, Oman, November 3, 2026. REUTERS/Stringer/File Photo
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Iran Says Two Tankers and Tugboat Caught Fire in Hormuz

FILE PHOTO: Vessels at the Strait of Hormuz, as seen from Musandam, Oman, November 3, 2026. REUTERS/Stringer/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: Vessels at the Strait of Hormuz, as seen from Musandam, Oman, November 3, 2026. REUTERS/Stringer/File Photo

Two oil tankers and a tugboat caught fire in the Strait of Hormuz, Iran's Revolutionary Guards said, according to local media on Thursday.

Since the outbreak of the Iran war on February 28, Tehran has severely restricted traffic through the strategic waterway, which normally carries about one-fifth of global oil consumption.

The United States has in response imposed a blockade on Iranian ports and helped tankers travel the strait.

"Last night, in two separate incidents, a large oil tanker attempting to pass through the illegal passageway south of the Strait of Hormuz suffered a fire after striking a mine and was brought to a halt," the Guards told the Fars news agency.

"Another supertanker was halted by a massive fire while exiting the eastern Strait of Hormuz. A tugboat that had approached the supertanker to extinguish the fire also caught fire."

Fars also reported the IRGC navy's electronic warfare unit had taken control of two LUCAS drones, a US-developed model short for Low-cost Uncrewed Combat Attack System.

World

France Braces for Demonstrations as Trade Unions Strike

The high school student movement that began with youth protesting dismal learning conditions. Alex MARTIN / AFP/File
The high school student movement that began with youth protesting dismal learning conditions. Alex MARTIN / AFP/File
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France Braces for Demonstrations as Trade Unions Strike

The high school student movement that began with youth protesting dismal learning conditions. Alex MARTIN / AFP/File
The high school student movement that began with youth protesting dismal learning conditions. Alex MARTIN / AFP/File

Hundreds of thousands of people are expected to take to the streets across France on Thursday, as unions hold strikes alongside student-led demonstrations that have gripped the country for weeks.

The high school student movement that began with youth protesting dismal learning conditions has coincided with widespread anger over the rising cost of living and inequality, which culminated on October 17 in the worst rioting France has seen in years, said AFP.

On Thursday, authorities estimate some 500,000 to 700,000 people will protest across the country, while as many as 80,000 people are expected to march in the capital Paris.

"It's going to be a strong mobilization," said Marylise Leon of the CFDT union, anticipating a turnout comparable to France's pension reform protests in 2023 that saw over one million people march.

Public and private education unions have called for strike action, as well as unions representing rail workers, public hospitals and postal services.

In demands addressed to both the government and employers, the unions are calling for an increase in the minimum wage, which has not received any discretionary boost since 2012, across-the-board wage raises, tax reforms and better learning conditions for young people.

Interior Minister Laurent Nunez announced Wednesday that 70,000 police officers and security forces would be deployed across the country, promising "an extremely firm response" to any "acts of violence" or disorder.

- 'Wake-up call' -

Although student-led protests were largely peaceful, some saw clashes with police erupt with tear gas and water cannon fired to disperse crowds.

An attempted murder investigation has been launched after petrol bombs were thrown at security forces in Paris on Saturday.

Meanwhile, the police response has been criticized as heavy-handed and internal police investigations have been launched over allegations of brutality against demonstrators.

Several teenage protesters have been seriously wounded and thousands arrested.

Authorities have admitted to security and intelligence failures that paved the way for the clashes, large-scale looting and vandalism of public property that erupted on October 17.

On Wednesday, the Paris prefecture banned a major protest route planned between Place de la Bastille and Place de la Concorde, which would have crossed the center of the city.

Police instead replaced it with an authorized route moving eastward away from the center.

Several unions have denounced route bans as a move to repress freedom of demonstration, and some have filed last-minute appeals to have the routes reinstated.

"We can feel a cumulative effect: public sympathy for the high school and university students' movement is not waning, and people are questioning restrictions on liberties, especially bans on demonstrations," Fabrice Fort of the CGT union explained.

"This has sparked a wake-up call among people who usually don't speak out much," he added.

Similar protests have sparked in other European countries in recent weeks with youth-led demonstrations seen in Denmark, Germany and Italy.

World

Trump Says Hegseth Doing 'a Very Good Job' as Questions Swirl about His Future

US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth attends a briefing held with Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Dan Caine (not pictured), amid the US-Israeli conflict with Iran, at the Pentagon in Washington, D.C., US, March 31, 2026. REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst
US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth attends a briefing held with Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Dan Caine (not pictured), amid the US-Israeli conflict with Iran, at the Pentagon in Washington, D.C., US, March 31, 2026. REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst
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Trump Says Hegseth Doing 'a Very Good Job' as Questions Swirl about His Future

US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth attends a briefing held with Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Dan Caine (not pictured), amid the US-Israeli conflict with Iran, at the Pentagon in Washington, D.C., US, March 31, 2026. REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst
US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth attends a briefing held with Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Dan Caine (not pictured), amid the US-Israeli conflict with Iran, at the Pentagon in Washington, D.C., US, March 31, 2026. REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst

US President Donald Trump backed Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth on Wednesday, a day after Democrats won control of both chambers of Congress in midterm elections that reflected voter anger over the Iran war.

Asked whether he was considering replacing Hegseth, whom he has described as a champion of the war, Trump told reporters: "No, I think he's doing a very good job."

The response contrasted with then-President George Bush, who fired Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld the morning after the 2006 midterm elections, when voter discontent over the Iraq war helped Democrats win control of Congress.

But sources said Trump could still replace Hegseth as Republicans assess their losses.

One Trump adviser said Hegseth "could be on the chopping block" because of the war. "Someone is going to get blamed for this and you know it's not going to be him (Trump)," the adviser said.

Trump has described Hegseth as a key proponent of the unpopular conflict, saying on March 23: "Pete, I think you were the first one to speak up, and you said, 'Let's do it, because you can't let them have ‌a nuclear weapon.'"

On ‌Wednesday, Vice President JD Vance publicly questioned whether the Iran war was worth it and said it ‌cost ⁠Republicans control of Congress.

Asked ⁠for comment, the White House referred Reuters to Trump's public remarks on Hegseth.

The Defense Department said Hegseth was "100 percent committed" to leading the Pentagon until the end of Trump's term, which ends on Jan. 20, 2029.

IMPEACHMENT THREAT

Hegseth has been a polarizing figure in American politics and has made enemies even with his own Republican Party. One Republican lawmaker, US Representative Thomas Massie, even filed articles of impeachment against him earlier this year, accusing him of abusing his office by launching hostilities against Iran without approval by Congress.

Republican US Senator Thom Tillis told CBS news on Tuesday night that Hegseth has "a reckoning" coming and his strained relationship with lawmakers was undermining the Trump administration's push for a $1.5 trillion defense spending package in Congress.

"I think after the election, we need to determine whether or not ⁠he's the best person to bring those needs to Congress if he wants something done before the ‌end of this Congress, which is only 60 days away," Tillis said as the midterm results ‌came in.

Democrats have promised to investigate Hegseth and his handling of the Pentagon, and aides say that could include everything from his handling of the Iran ‌war to his purges of top military officers including the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

He could also face scrutiny over his Ukraine ‌policy and US military strikes on suspected drug trafficking boats in Latin American waters, which some Democrats say could amount to war crimes.

At times, the conflict between Hegseth and members of Congress has become personal. Last year, Hegseth sought to prosecute Democratic US Senator Mark Kelly after he and five other Democrats in Congress with backgrounds in the military and intelligence urged US troops to refuse illegal orders.

Hegseth accused them of sedition.

Representative Adam Smith, the Democrat who is expected to lead the House ‌Armed Services Committee next year, promised vigorous oversight on everything from the Iran war to what he called the erosion of the "apolitical foundation of the armed forces."

A source familiar with the matter said rancor on ⁠Capitol Hill over Hegseth has featured ⁠in White House discussions about potential replacements for him, saying there would be a need to have someone in the job who could distance themselves from events under Democratic scrutiny.

Chief Pentagon spokesperson Sean Parnell said Hegseth would continue to drive Trump's agenda and that the Pentagon "has followed the law."

"Secretary Hegseth will not back down or be deterred by politicians seeking to score partisan points or launch phony investigations where no wrongdoing exists," Parnell said.

TENNESSEE SENATE SEAT?

One long-rumored possibility for Hegseth would be filling the Senate seat that will be vacated by Senator Marsha Blackburn, who was elected on Tuesday to become Tennessee's next governor starting in January.

She has four years left in her term, and Hegseth, a Tennessee resident who voted there on Tuesday, could be appointed to the position, without having to run for election.

Asked whether he wanted Hegseth to fill Blackburn's seat, Trump said: "Well, I think, I think he's doing a very good job, and I actually think he'd be very popular if he did that."

"But I haven't heard that at all," Trump told reporters.

Trump has regularly praised Hegseth publicly, and has given the former Army National Guard soldier significant leeway as he sought to reshape the Pentagon.

But last month Trump publicly split with Hegseth by pulling the plug on his plans to livestream the Army's firing-squad execution of Fort Hood shooter Nidal Hasan.

Many fellow Republicans, along with religious leaders and international observers, raised objections to the plan. Defense officials privately expressed relief that the livestreaming would not go forward.