In the recent election, Benjamin Netanyahu failed to form a government. With this, the PM Office said that he would forgo his 74th United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) session due to the current "political circumstances."
Tel Aviv (Israel): Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu would not be travelling to New York for the 74th United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) session scheduled for next week, the Prime Minister's Office announced on Wednesday.
This decision came a day after the incumbent Prime Minister Netanyahu failed to secure sufficient support in the elections to form a new government with his right-wing political allies.
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The Times of Israel quoted Netanyahu's office as saying that he would forgo the trip due to the current "political circumstances". Foreign Minister Israel Katz is said to attend in Netanyahu's stead.
This also effectively means that he will not be meeting US President Donald Trump and will be the first time since 2010 that 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.
Netanyahu's Likud party trailed by their main rival Blue and White by 31 to 32 seats on September 18 after an unprecedented repeat election. The election results had also put the country's longest-serving prime minister on shaky ground and raised the possibility of a unity government.
The Central Election Committee (CEC) said that Blue and White party seemed to be taking the lead over Likud after 91% votes were counted.
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