Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Tuesday at a Likud party conference that he is aware he will come under heavy pressure as he prepared to leave for New York.

“Tonight I am going to New York to speak at the General Assembly, meet with (U.S. President Barack) Obama and with other leaders,” Netanyahu said. “I know the reception I received here is much warmer than the one I will receive at the UN, and exactly because of that I think we should go there and present our truth… of a people attacked over and over by those opposed to their very existence. That is the most basic truth.”

Netanyahu said he has turned to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas several times, and offered him to meet, but Abbas declined. “I told him the road to peace goes through direct negotiations and not unilateral decisions at the UN,” he said.

Also on Tuesday, Israel’s Ambassador to the UN, Ron Prosor, said in an interview that Israel “is ready to negotiate tomorrow,” with the Palestinians.

For more, go to Haaretz.com

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