The PresidentBenjamin Netanyahu, the prime minister of Israel, will meet with Donald Trump on Tuesday, becoming the first foreign leader to do so since the beginning of his second administration.
In an interview with reporters on Sunday, Trump described the White House meeting as a “very big meeting.” He said, “I look forward to discussing how we can bring peace to Israel and its neighbors and efforts to counter our shared adversaries,” in his letter inviting Netanyahu to Washington last week.
Netanyahu stated on Sunday that they would address “the critical issues that lie ahead of us defeating Hamas, returning all our hostages and dealing with the Iranian axis in all its components, an axis that also threatens Israel s security, the Middle East and the entire world.”
A joint news conference is planned for approximately one hour after the two’s scheduled meeting at 4 p.m. ET.
The Biden administration secured a ceasefire and hostage-release arrangement between Israel and the militant organization Hamas with the assistance of Trump’s transition team. The two leaders are due to talk about the next stage of the accord on Tuesday.
On October 7, 2023, Hamas launched a terrorist attack on Israel, killing 1,200 people and taking 251 hostage. This marked the start of the battle. According to local officials, Israel killed about 47,000 people in its retaliatory air and land attack on Gaza, the majority of whom were civilians. The number of displaced Palestinians is in the hundreds of thousands.
Netanyahu has defended his actions, most notably while traveling to Washington, despite widespread condemnation of the Israeli counteroffensive’s magnitude.
“The Middle East has already altered as a result of the choices we took during the conflict and the valor displayed by the IDF soldiers. It has been completely altered by them. “I believe we can make even more positive changes if we work hard with President Trump,” Netanyahu stated.
In an attempt to purge Gaza, Trump has stated that he wanted Jordan and Egypt to take in more Palestinian refugees.
During Trump’s first year in power, Netanyahu and Trump were strong allies. However, their relationship soured when Netanyahu congratulated Joe Biden for winning the 2020 election while Trump was still contesting the results.
Trump told a gathering at a campaign event a few days after the Oct. 7 incident that Netanyahu had failed us during his first term, claiming that he had not been helpful prior to the US killing a senior Iranian general. Following backlash from his Republican opponents, Trump used Netanyahu’s nickname to post on social media with the hashtags #IStandWithIsrael and #IStandWithBibi.
When Netanyahu paid Trump a visit at his Florida home in July following meetings with Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris and following an unsuccessful attempt on Trump’s life, their relationship seemed to have been restored.
Netanyahu stated that the “fact that this will be [Trump’s] first meeting with a foreign leader since his inauguration has great significance for the state of Israel” as it “testifies to the strength of the alliance between Israel and the United States.”
Netanyahu’s visit to the White House is by no means his first.
Blair House, the White House’s historic official guest residence, welcomed Netanyahu on Monday. According to the director of the residence, Netanyahu has visited the mansion 14 times, which is far more than any other foreign leader has done since it was constructed in the 19th century.