An isolated Netanyahu takes UN stage as he seeks reelection at home

JERUSALEM (AP) — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu began the year declaring that he stood “shoulder to shoulder” with U.S. President Donald Trump as the two countries launched a war against Iran. But this week, as world leaders gather in New York for the United Nations General Assembly, there are no plans for the two men to be in the same room, or even in the same city.

As the war with Iran has dragged on, Trump and Netanyahu have split over how to prosecute it, straining a relationship between the two allies. Netanyahu has also faced global criticism both for Israel’s war in Gaza and settler violence in the occupied West Bank. Instead of a packed itinerary, Netanyahu, who arrived on Thursday, was scheduled to meet only a handful of leaders before giving his speech.

The apparent snub underscored how badly the relationship between Trump and the prime minister has fractured. Many in Washington associate Netanyahu with the increasingly unpopular fight with Iran and Trump has labored to avoid the appearance that the Israeli leader forced him into a war that Trump said would be a “little excursion” lasting only weeks.

Netanyahu's brief visit also demonstrated how isolated he is globally, three years after launching a punishing war in Gaza in retaliation for the Hamas-led attacks on Oct. 7, 2023. He faces an election next month widely seen as a referendum on his responsibility for the security failures surrounding the attacks and his ability to defend Israel's reputation on the world stage.

Day after day this week, as other heads of state have stepped to the podium, many have harshly criticized Israel's actions, particularly in Gaza. Ahead of his visit, New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani urged his arrest, saying the U.S. should honor a warrant for Netanyahu issued by the International Criminal Court. He is wanted for war crimes and crimes against humanity allegedly committed in Gaza, though the U.S. is not a member of the court and New York City lacks the authority to arrest him.

Still, the prime minister is a master showman, and often turns to props and visual aids during speeches in flawless English to drive home his message. Last year at the summit, scores of diplomats walked out while he was speaking. But that is unlikely to faze him, as he speaks primarily to an audience of Israeli voters.

“He times his speech so that it is broadcast here in primetime,” said Michael Oren, a former Israeli ambassador to the U.S. who served under Netanyahu and lives in Israel.

But experts say without the usual high-profile meetings, the trip could hurt Netanyahu’s image at home.

“I think the trip is a mistake, because it exposes his weaknesses,” said Eytan Gilboa, an expert on U.S.-Israel relations and professor at Israel’s Bar-Ilan and Reichman universities.

While many Israelis view the U.N. as hostile toward Israel, he added, the fact that he could not secure a meeting with Trump only highlights how poorly Netanyahu has managed the relationship with his nation's strongest ally.

In 2023, U.S. President Joe Biden was reluctant to host Netanyahu at the White House but still made time to sit down with him on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly.

“Israel cannot survive without the United States,” Gilboa said.

The slight in New York follows sharp criticism from Mike Huckabee, the U.S. ambassador to Israel and a longtime supporter of Israeli settlements, of the settlers attacking Palestinian communities in the West Bank. In unusual remarks for an ambassador, he referred to the attackers as “terrorists."

“It’s significant of a deeper rift,” Oren said of Netanyahu's slim itinerary.

When Trump was in New York on Tuesday, he met with an array of leaders from Arab nations, as well as from Denmark, Japan, Greenland, Ukraine and Venezuela, among others. He then quickly returned to Washington to roll out the red carpet for Chinese President Xi Jinping.

For a leader who likes to portray himself as a global statesman, it is a “big, big miss for him at a time where he can’t afford misses,” Natan Sachs, senior fellow at the Middle East Institute in Washington, said of Netanyahu.

On other past trips, Netanyahu met with a slate of high-profile leaders, including Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and then-German Chancellor Olaf Scholz.

This year, though, the prime minister's office said “many world leaders” asked to meet with Netanyahu during his brief visit, but that he was on a “tight schedule” and needed to return to Israel before the start of the Jewish holiday of Sukkot, which begins at sundown on Friday.

On his schedule, the statement said, were leaders from Argentina, Bolivia, Paraguay, Panama, Ethiopia, Greece, Slovenia, and Papua New Guinea.

FILE - President Donald Trump, right, listens during a news conference with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in the State Dining Room of the White House, Sept. 29, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci, File)

A person holds a sign during a protest ahead of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's address at the 81st session of the United Nations General Assembly, Thursday, Sept. 24, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Madison Swart)

United States President Donald Trump speaks during the 81st session of the United Nations General Assembly at United Nations headquarters, Tuesday, Sept. 22, 2026. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)

FILE - Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu listens during a news conference with President Donald Trump at Mar-a-Lago, Dec. 29, 2025, in Palm Beach, Fla. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon, File)

The average long-term U.S. mortgage rate rose this week above 7% for the first time since January 2025, the latest affordability setback for prospective homebuyers following a five-week run of rate increases.

The weekly average rate on a 30-year fixed-rate home loan rose to 7.03% from 6.95% last week, mortgage buyer Freddie Mac said Thursday. One year ago, the average rate was 6.30%.

The average rate is now the highest it's been since Jan. 16, 2025, when it was at 7.04%.

“Beyond the immediate financial constraints, the 7% threshold is a foreboding psychological barrier,” said Lisa Sturtevant, chief economist at Bright MLS. “Crossing this mark could create a chilling effect on the market" that would lead to a considerable slowing of home sales transactions this fall.

Higher mortgage rates can add hundreds of dollars a month to borrowers’ costs, limiting homebuyers’ purchasing power. As rates rise, that can also lead prospective home shoppers to delay buying.

In late February, the average rate on a 30-year mortgage briefly dipped to 5.98%, its lowest level going back to late 2022. The roughly 1 percentage point increase in the rate since then translates roughly into an additional $276 a month cost for a borrower financing a $400,000 home loan at the current average rate.

Depending on a borrower’s income, credit and other factors, they may qualify for a rate on a 30-year mortgage that is below or above the current average.

The housing market has been stuck in a rut this year in large part because of elevated mortgage rates, which have been climbing in the months since the U.S. and Israel attacked Iran in late February.

Mortgage rates are influenced by inflation, Federal Reserve policy and bond-market investors’ expectations for the economy, among other factors. They generally follow the trajectory of the 10-year Treasury yield, which lenders use as a guide to pricing home loans.

Expectations of higher inflation amid surging oil prices have pushed up the 10-year Treasury yield, which was at 3.97% in late February, before the war began. It surged to 5.17% in midday trading on the bond market Thursday. That’s put it roughly back to where it was in 2007.

The latest increase in the 10-year Treasury yield suggests that “upward mortgage rate pressure seems likely to linger,” said Anthony Smith, senior economist at Realtor.com.

The Federal Reserve’s decision last week to increase its key interest rate for the first time in three years in a bid to tame surging inflation could also keep upward pressure on mortgage rates.

While the central bank doesn’t set mortgage rates, its decisions to raise or lower its short-term rate are watched closely by bond investors and can ultimately affect the yield on 10-year Treasurys. The Fed also signaled that another rate hike could occur later this year.

Wall Street traders now see close to a coin flip’s chance that the Fed could raise rates twice more by the end of the year, according to data from the CME Group.

The U.S. housing market has been in a slump since 2022, when mortgage rates began to climb from pandemic-era lows. Sales of previously occupied U.S. homes were essentially flat last year, stuck at a 30-year low. U.S. sales of those homes slowed again last month.

The latest data on home loan applications show that the upward trend in mortgage rates has given some would-be homebuyers reason to pause.

Mortgage applications, which include loans to buy a home or refinance an existing mortgage, fell 1.5% last week from the previous week, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association. This marks the third straight weekly drop.

Applications for loans to refinance existing mortgages also declined, falling to their slowest pace since February 2025.

The latest move in rates on 15-year fixed-rate mortgages, often sought by borrowers refinancing a home loan, is likely to discourage some homeowners eager to refinance. That average rate increased this week to 6.42% from 6.26% last week. A year ago, it was at 5.49%.

The elevated mortgage rates are driving more prospective homebuyers to adjustable-rate mortgages, or ARMs. Such loans, which typically offer lower initial interest rates than traditional 30-year, fixed-rate mortgages, accounted for nearly 10% of all mortgage applications last week, MBA said.

For sale sign is seen outside of a home in Arlington Heights, Ill., Wednesday, Sept. 16, 2026. (AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh)