Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu visited former US President Donald Trump at his Mar-a-Lago property in Florida for talks as Trump dismissed any suggestion of tensions between the 2.
Netanyahu met with Trump, the Republican nominee in November’s presidential election, on Friday, a day after Netanyahu met with Democratic President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris, who is predicted to run towards Trump.
The assembly capped a weeklong go to by Netanyahu to america that was met with widespread protests, boycotts by U.S. lawmakers and warnings from human rights teams over Israel’s warfare in Gaza.
Trump greeted Netanyahu and his spouse Sara and criticized Harris, who had expressed considerations in public feedback after assembly with the Israeli chief about the price to Palestinian civilians of Israel’s assault on the besieged territory.
“I believe his feedback had been disrespectful,” Trump stated.
Netanyahu stated Israel would ship a negotiating workforce to debate a Gaza ceasefire proposal in Rome “most likely early this week,” in response to reporters.
He stated he thought there had been motion in efforts to forge a ceasefire due to Israeli navy stress.
Trump dismissed any suggestion of tensions with Netanyahu, saying the 2 have “all the time had an excellent relationship.”
Netanyahu’s go to adopted a speech to a joint session of the US Congress, a White Home assembly with Biden and a separate assembly with Harris.
Lengthy thought to be an knowledgeable at navigating the shifting American political winds, Netanyahu’s newest cease on his journey has been extensively seen as an effort to restore ties with Trump forward of the Nov. 5 election.
Trump, whose time period as president ran from January 2017 to January 2021, took a permissive and transactional strategy to U.S.-Israel relations that strengthened Netanyahu’s authorities whereas largely marginalizing Palestinian pursuits.
However Netanyahu’s acceptance of Biden’s victory within the 2020 presidential election whereas Trump alleged fraud soured the connection.
“Fuck him,” Trump stated of Netanyahu in an interview on the time.
“I nonetheless like Bibi,” he added. “However I additionally like loyalty.”
Forward of Friday’s assembly, officers advised Israeli media that Netanyahu had already begun his appeal offensive, calling Trump for the primary time in years this month.
Throughout his tackle to Congress, Netanyahu took specific time to focus on a number of of Trump’s actions whereas in workplace, together with brokering the Abraham Accords, which noticed Israel set up ties with a number of Arab nations, in addition to Trump’s choice to maneuver the US embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem and acknowledge Israel’s declare to the Syrian-occupied Golan Heights.
Trump later thanked the Israeli chief throughout an interview on Fox Information.
Conferences with Biden and Harris
After his tackle to Congress, Netanyahu met with Biden on the White Home, the place officers stated the U.S. president pressed the Israeli chief on a U.S. proposal for a ceasefire in Gaza.
At the least 39,175 individuals have been killed and 90,403 wounded in Israel’s warfare on Gaza, which started in October, in response to Palestinian officers.
Israel launched the warfare after Hamas-led assaults on southern Israel on October 7, which killed at the very least 1,139 individuals, in response to an Al Jazeera tally primarily based on Israeli statistics. Some 250 individuals had been taken prisoner throughout the assaults.
Within the early days of the warfare, Biden had supported Netanyahu however had barely talked about Palestinian struggling. Whereas his administration has since taken a harder rhetorical line with Israeli officers, it has continued to offer political and arms assist to Israel.
This week, Amnesty Worldwide stated it was placing america “on discover” that Israel had used US-made weapons in warfare crimes and that it “might be complicit in future violations dedicated with such weapons.”
On Thursday, Netanyahu additionally met with Harris, who’s on monitor to formally change into the Democratic Social gathering’s presidential nominee subsequent month following Biden’s shock announcement Sunday that he would finish his re-election bid.
Many analysts interpreted Harris’s feedback after the assembly as an try to mediate between the administration’s continued assist for the warfare and the home political fallout it has triggered. She stated the warfare was “not a binary challenge.”
“We can not look the opposite means within the face of those tragedies. We can not permit ourselves to change into insensitive to struggling. And I can’t stay silent,” she stated, persevering with to pledge assist for Israel.
“To all those that have been calling for a ceasefire and to all those that yearn for peace, I see you and I hear you,” he stated.
The remarks, seen as a stronger reflection of the civilian price of the warfare than earlier messages from the Biden administration, had been met with a swift rebuke from Netanyahu’s far-right allies in Israel.
“Madam candidate, there might be no cessation of hostilities,” wrote Nationwide Safety Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir on X.