Netanyahu to meet Clinton, Ban, but not Obama, at UN confab

Canadian prime minister also to powwow on Iran with Israeli counterpart in New York this week

Stuart Winer is a breaking news editor at The Times of Israel.

United Nations headquarters in New York City. (CC BY-WorldIslandInfo.com/Flickr/File)
United Nations headquarters in New York City. (CC BY-WorldIslandInfo.com/Flickr/File)

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will pack in meetings with UN head Ban Ki-moon, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper during his trip to New York this week.

Netanyahu will leave for the United Nations General Assembly on Wednesday night and deliver a speech to the world body’s biggest confab on Thursday.

The speech, and the meetings with the world leaders, are expected to focus on the threat of Iran going nuclear.

“I will reiterate that the most dangerous country in the world must not be allowed to arm itself with the most dangerous weapon in the world,” Netanyahu said during his cabinet meeting Sunday.

Iran’s President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad will address the Assembly on Wednesday.

Conspicuously missing from Netanyahu’s schedule is a meeting with US President Barack Obama, which Jerusalem had reportedly sought. Washington said such a meeting did not fit the president’s schedule, but this was seen as pushback against Jerusalem for chiding the US over failing to back it up over placing red lines on Iranian enrichment activity.

Netanyahu praised Canada’s Harper, who recently cut diplomatic ties with Iran, for his “moral and brave decision against Iran.”

Netanyahu will leave for the US immediately after the Yom Kippur fast day, the holiest date on the Jewish calendar.

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