Netanyahu thanks Slovenia's Janša for Israel's new embassy in Ljubljana

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu met Slovenian Prime Minister Janez Janša on Thursday, 24 September 2026, while both leaders were attending the UN General Assembly, according to a statement issued by the Israeli government. The meeting took place on the margins of the gathering rather than as a formal bilateral visit.

In the statement, Netanyahu is described as congratulating Janša on the opening of an Israeli embassy in Ljubljana, the Slovenian capital, and thanking him for what the Israeli side called his steadfast support for Israel. The government readout says that this support has produced a turnaround in relations between the two countries. The leaders talked about ways to expand cooperation across a range of fields, and Netanyahu extended an invitation to Janša to visit Israel.

What the Israeli statement covers

The account of the meeting comes from the Prime Minister's Office and was published on the Israeli government's official website under the heading of the 37th Government, the term used for the current Israeli cabinet. An accompanying photograph is credited to Avi Ohayon of the GPO, the Government Press Office, which supplies official images of the prime minister's engagements to the media.

Government readouts of this kind are short by design. They record who met, where, and the broad themes the host government wishes to highlight. This one makes three substantive points: the embassy opening in Ljubljana, Israeli gratitude for Janša's backing, and a general commitment to explore closer cooperation. It also records the invitation for Janša to come to Israel.

Why the embassy in Ljubljana matters

An embassy is a country's main diplomatic mission in another state, usually located in the capital and headed by an ambassador. Opening one is a practical signal that a government expects a steady flow of political, economic and consular business with the host country, and wants a permanent presence to handle it.

The Israeli statement links the new mission directly to Janša personally, presenting it as something for which he deserved congratulations. It does not say when the embassy opened, who will lead it, or how Israel's diplomatic relations with Slovenia were managed before it existed.

The language of a turnaround

By describing a turnaround in bilateral relations, the Israeli government is signalling that ties with Slovenia were, in its view, weaker at some earlier point and have since improved. The readout credits that change to Janša's support. It does not describe what the earlier state of relations was, which policies or votes it has in mind, or what Slovenia's government has done that Israel regards as support.

Diplomacy at the General Assembly

The UN General Assembly is the body in which every member state of the United Nations is represented. Its annual session draws heads of state and government to New York, and many of them use the occasion to hold a series of short meetings with counterparts they might otherwise need to travel to see. Encounters described as taking place on the sidelines of the Assembly are typically brief and focused on reaffirming relationships or announcing developments such as the one Israel highlighted here.

For Israel, these side meetings are a regular part of the prime minister's schedule during the session, and the government routinely publishes short summaries of them. The meeting with Janša fits that pattern.

What the reports do not say

This article rests on a single source: the Israeli government's own statement. No Slovenian government account of the meeting, and no independent news report, was available in the material reviewed. As a result, it is not known how Janša or his office characterised the conversation, or whether they would describe relations in the same terms.

The statement does not identify the specific fields in which the two sides discussed deeper cooperation, and it does not mention any agreements signed or announced. It gives no date for a possible visit by Janša to Israel, and does not say whether he accepted the invitation. It also does not say how long the meeting lasted or who else took part.

Finally, the statement offers no detail on the embassy beyond its location in Ljubljana, including when it opened or whether Slovenia maintains or plans a corresponding mission in Israel.