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Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu\u2019s unusually brief trip to the United States to address the UN stands in stark contrast to his week-long visit last year that included a meeting with President \u200bDonald Trump, reflecting rocky times in US-Israeli ties.<\/strong><\/p>\n Netanyahu is expected to be in New York for \u200cless than eight hours before returning to Israel, two Israeli officials said.<\/p>\n His office said he would meet nine world leaders, five of them from Latin American nations with which Israel has sought to deepen ties as relations with traditional partners in Europe have been strained by \u200bthe Gaza war and West Bank settlement expansion.<\/p>\n But a statement from Netanyahu\u2019s office made no mention of meetings \u200bwith US officials at the annual UN General Assembly.<\/p>\n TOUGH ELECTION LOOMING<\/strong><\/p>\n Israel\u2019s former ambassador to Washington, \u2060Michael Oren, said he could not recall a time when an Israeli prime minister visited the US without meeting \u200bthe president, describing this as a blow for Netanyahu ahead of Israel\u2019s October 27 general election.<\/p>\n Trump has met Netanyahu eight times during \u200bhis second term as president. Their last encounter was in July.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s a campaign speech. Now it would be much better if that campaign speech were accompanied by a meeting with the president, or another world leader, or at least the secretary of state, but apparently it\u2019s \u200bnot,\u201d Oren said.<\/p>\n \u201cI don\u2019t recall a time when the prime minister came to the United States and didn\u2019t meet with \u200bthe president\u2026 So I\u2019m sure that he was disappointed by that.\u201d<\/p>\n Netanyahu\u2019s office said many world leaders requested to meet him \u201cduring the visit, \u200cbut due \u2060to a tight schedule and the need to return before the onset of (the Jewish holiday of) Sukkot, the Prime Minister was only able to accommodate some of them\u201d.<\/p>\n Netanyahu\u2019s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Oren\u2019s remarks.<\/p>\n Opinion polls indicate Netanyahu could lose the election, his security credentials still shaken by the October 7, 2023 attacks by \u200bthe Palestinian militant group Hamas \u200bon Israel, though he \u2060cannot be written off.<\/p>\n Netanyahu is to meet the presidents of Argentina, Bolivia, Paraguay, Panama, Ethiopia and the vice president of Colombia, and the prime ministers of Greece, Slovenia and Papua \u200bNew Guinea, his office said.<\/p>\n Trump and Netanyahu jointly launched a war on Iran in February, \u200bbut the \u2060allies found themselves at odds as Trump sought to extricate the United States from the conflict with key goals unmet. Washington struck an interim deal with Tehran in June that was opposed by Israel before it unravelled a few weeks later.<\/p>\n US public backing \u2060for Israel \u200bhas fallen since the Gaza war began, particularly among Democrats.<\/p>\n Israel has faced deepening \u200bdiplomatic isolation since launching its war in Gaza in response to the October 7 attacks.<\/p>\n Earlier this month, once-steadfast allies Britain, France and Canada announced sanctions \u200btargeting Israeli settlements in the West Bank, which drew a muted response from Washington.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n