‘There will be surprises’: Netanyahu departs for U.S. ahead of UN General Assembly speech

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu departed for the U.N. General Assembly in New York early on Thursday morning.

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He is scheduled to land at a military airport in New Jersey, about a two-hour drive from U.N. headquarters. His speech is set to begin at 2 p.m. local time (9 p.m. in Israel).

The prime minister also plans to meet during the New York visit with the presidents of Argentina, Bolivia, Paraguay, Panama and Ethiopia; Colombian Vice President José Manuel Restrepo; and the prime ministers of Greece, Slovenia and Papua New Guinea, according to Netanyahu’s office.

The office said other leaders had requested meetings, but Netanyahu’s schedule and the need to return to Israel before the start of Sukkot limited the number he could accept.

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Netanyahu released a video statement on Wednesday before departing to address the 81st session of the UNGA.

“I am leaving tonight for New York in order to defend, from the U.N. podium, Israel and IDF soldiers,” Netanyahu said. “You hear the terrible lies that are being spread there and across other places in the world. I will fight against the lies, and I will fight for the truth—for our soldiers and for our country.”

The prime minister added: “There will also be surprises.”

Before leaving, Netanyahu visited the family of Neria Leiter at Shaare Zedek Medical Center in Jerusalem on Wednesday evening, according to the Prime Minister’s Office.

Leiter, the son of Israel’s ambassador to the United States, was very seriously injured in a terrorist attack earlier on Wednesday.

Netanyahu asked the public to pray for the recovery of “Neria Dov ben [son of] Chana.”

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