United Nations spotlight Wednesday on Mideast crises, Netanyahu speaks

“In my speech, I will – of course – refer to our policy vis-à-vis Syria and the dangers on our northern border”.

The European Union migrant crisis is likely to return to the agenda with Greece’s leftist Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras and the German and Austrian foreign ministers Frank-Walter Steinmeier and Sebastian Kurzon on the speakers list.

Moscow said yesterday a mortar fell on the embassy compound in the Syrian capital on Sunday without causing damage and blamed forces battling President Bashar al-Assad and their “outside sponsors” for the shelling. The Iranian commander in Syria is Ghasem Soleimani [the head of the Revolutionary Guard’s elite Quds Force] and his deputy is Hassan Nasrallah [the leader of Hezbollah]. The authorities are already taking steps in this direction as they recently arrested Ian Ben-Shitreet, who is generally known as the gambling don in Eilat. The problem in the Middle East now is Iran’s massive onslaught in the region. “I will say all of this and more at the UN General Assembly and in my meetings in the U.S.”.

The report said a number of government officials were outraged that the prime minister was unreachable for hours, calling the incident “grave”. Netanyahu is expected to talk about the Iran nuclear deal, which Israel bitterly opposed and then was signed by the US and five other countries earlier this year.

After his speech on Thursday, Netanyahu is scheduled to meet with United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon.

A USA administration official said that Abbas had reaffirmed his commitment to a two-state solution, an aim shared by the United States. Netanyahu will depart the USA on Saturday night and arrive back in Israel on Sunday.