Beleaguered at Home, a Bellicose Netanyahu Heads to the U.N.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel will take to the world stage while fighting for his political future in a critical national election. No matter how hostile the reception, for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel, just being able to address the United Nations General Assembly on Thursday as the country’s leader is a personal win in itself. Against the odds, he has survived politically, even after the policy, military and intelligence debacle that led up to the Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel. His government is about to complete a full, if tumultuous, four-year term, the first Israeli coalition to have done so in more than 30 years. Yet Mr. Netanyahu will be taking the world stage with his political future on the line, largely directing his words at the audience back home, analysts say, not at the international community from which Israel is more isolated than ever. A tight race for control of Israel’s Parliament is on the national ballot scheduled for late October. This will be the country’s first election since the day that Hamas led the deadly surprise attack on Israel, igniting the devastating war in Gaza. As fighting spread to Lebanon, Iran and beyond, the total victory that Mr. Netanyahu promised has remained elusive. Israel’s wars have come to no end .

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