Benjamin Netanyahu’s fourth face-to-face meeting with Donald Trump since last July appears to have gone reasonably well, certainly better than his previous visit in April.
The Israeli prime minister and the U.S. president met at a White House dinner on July 7 to discuss several core topics — the prospects of a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip, the outcome of the recent Israel-Iran war and what lies ahead in efforts to shut down Iran’s nuclear program, and the possibility of a rapprochement between Israel and Syria.
Netanyahu, who conferred again with Trump on July 8, also met Vice President J.D. Vance.
Netanyahu’s meetings with Trump underscored that fact that no world leader has conferred with him as often as Netanyahu during Trump’s second term of office.
Last July, four months before the U.S. presidential election, they had a lengthy discussion at Trump’s estate in Mar-A-Lago, Florida.
They met again in February, when Trump disclosed an interest in “owning” Gaza and improbably converting it into the Riviera of the Middle East.
Two months later, Trump summoned Netanyahu to the White House to inform him that the United States intended to engage Iran in talks about its controversial nuclear program. This came as a surprise and a disappointment to Netanyahu, who remains convinced that negotiations with Iran, Israel’s deadliest enemy, are bound to fail.
Although Trump visited Israel during his first presidential trip in 2017, he has yet to revisit the country. He could have done so when he went to Saudi Arabia and Qatar earlier this year, but did not take advantage of the opportunity.
In the days leading up to their meeting yesterday, Trump said he would be “very firm” with Netanyahu on the need to end the war in Gaza. He predicted that a ceasefire and hostage release agreement would be reached shortly, perhaps as early as next week.
Late last month, following the U.S. bombardment of three Iranian nuclear facilities and Israel’s 12-day war with Iran, Trump demanded an end to Netanyahu’s ongoing criminal trial. He compared it to a “ridiculous witch hunt” and a “travesty of justice” and claimed it was “politically motivated.”
Trump’s unprecedented intervention in Israeli domestic affairs satisfied Netanyahu, but upset his political opponents.
A few days later, Trump repeated his accusation, saying that Netanyahu’s trial undermines efforts to attain a truce in Gaza and a deal to close Iran’s nuclear program.
In rushing to Netanyahu’s defence, Trump spoke highly of their collaboration during the Israel-Iran war. Praising Netanyahu on his Truth Social social media site, he wrote, “Bibi and I just went through HELL together. Bibi could not have been better, sharper, or stronger in his LOVE for the incredible Holy Land. Perhaps there is no one that I know who could have worked in better harmony with the President of the United States, ME, than Bibi Netanyahu.”
Trump added, “Bibi Netanyahu was a WARRIOR, like perhaps no other Warrior in the History of Israel, and the result was something that nobody thought was possible, a complete elimination of potentially one of the biggest and most powerful Nuclear Weapons anywhere in the World, and it was going to happen, SOON! We were fighting, literally, for the Survival of Israel, and there is nobody in Israel’s History that fought harder or more competently than Bibi Netanyahu.”
Trump issued these fulsome words of praise just days after he had expressed frustration with and anger at Israel. As the war wound down, following the Iranian regime’s acceptance of a ceasefire, he called Netanyahu to demand the cancellation of impending Israeli Air Force bombing strikes in Iran.
Despite Trump’s mixed messages, Netanyahu voiced gratitude for his support “I was deeply moved by your heartfelt support for me and your incredible support for Israel and the Jewish people,” he wrote on X. “I look forward to continue working with you to defeat our common enemies.”
A day before his latest meetings with Netanyahu, Trump exuded confidence that a ceasefire in Gaza was possible. “I think we’re close to a deal on Gaza,” he told reporters. “I think there’s a good chance we’ll have a deal with Hamas during the week.” He advised Hamas “to take the deal, warning “it will not get better, it will only get worse” if Hamas rejects a truce.
Karoline Leavitt, the White House press secretary, told reporters on July 7 that Trump was eager “to end the war in Gaza and to return all of the hostages.” She added, “There was a ceasefire proposal that Israel supports that was sent to Hamas, and we hope that they will agree to this proposal. We want to see all of the hostages released. He views this part of the region as having a real chance of being peaceful and prosperous. But again, we need to end this war. We need to get all the hostages home, and Hamas needs to accept this proposal in order to do that.”
She described the truce proposal as “agreeable and appropriate.” Under its terms, Israel and Hamas would broadly agree to a 60-day ceasefire during which ten live Israeli hostages and a still-to-be-determined number of deceased ones would be released in exchange for Palestinians held in Israeli prisons.
She disclosed that Steve Witkoff, Trump’s envoy to the Middle East, intends to travel to Doha, where he will join Israeli, Hamas, Qatari and Egyptian negotiators engaged in talks to end the war.
Yesterday, five Israeli soldiers were killed and 14 were wounded by a roadside bomb in northern Gaza, bringing to 449 the number of fallen soldiers since Israel’s invasion of the coastal enclave on October 27, 2023.
The attack took place a day after BBC News quoted a high-ranked but unnamed Hamas commander as saying that Hamas has lost control of about 80 percent of Gaza. Since launching its newest offensive recently, Israel’s objective has been to seize and hold three-quarters of Gaza, where 58,000 Palestinians, including combatants, have been killed.
Today, in the wake of Netanyahu’s first meeting with Trump senior Israeli officials were quoted as saying that negotiations for a ceasefire/hostage release deal have advanced, that upwards of 90 percent of the issues have been settled, and that Israel is working closely with the United States to achieve this objective.
“On a hostage deal, we are coordinated,” Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer said. “We hope it will lead to a breakthrough … It can take more time, but we are working on it.”
Dermer’s upbeat comments mask a harsh reality.
The Israeli government will neither finish the war nor withdraw from Gaza, the conditions that Hamas insists on, unless certain conditions are met. As Netanyahu said today, Israel is “determined to complete all the goals of the war: To free all our hostages, to destroy Hamas’ military and governance capacities, and to ensure that Gaza will no longer be a threat to Israel. That means no Hamas. This must be understood.”
With this scenario in mind, Netanyahu has bought into Trump’s far-fetched vision of relocating Palestinians from Gaza and turning it into a luxury waterfront development. He has described Trump’s plan as “brilliant.”
Netanyahu said yesterday that Palestinians in Gaza should be able to emigrate if they so desire. “It’s called free choice. You know, if people want to stay, they can stay, but if they want to leave, they should be able to leave.”
Defence Minister Israel Katz elaborated on this proposal as Netanyahu arrived in Washington. He said he wants to build a “humanitarian city” on the ruins of Rafah, where more than two million Palestinians can be concentrated before they are encouraged to “voluntarily emigrate” from Gaza. This plan “should be fulfilled,” he said.
Arab countries, from Egypt and Saudi Arabia on down, have offered an alternative proposal, They have endorsed a plan to rebuild Gaza, integrate it into a future Palestinian state, and banish Hamas from any future role in governance.
Speaking of the Israel-Iran war, Netanyahu said that the “partnership between Israel and the United States — the partnership between President Trump and me — produced a historic victory.”
In his estimation, the war “set back the two tumors that were threatening the life of Israel — the nuclear tumor and the ballistic missile tumor.” According to Netanyahu, Iran intended to produce 20,000 such missiles. “No country can withstand that. So what do you do when you have two things that are going to kill you? You have to remove them with our combined effort (and) we did. But when you remove a tumor, that doesn’t mean that it can’t come back. You have to constantly monitor the situation to make sure that there’s no attempt to bring it back.”
“I’d like to believe that Iran would not test our fortitude, because it would be a mistake,” he warned.
According to reports, the Trump administration would have no objection to Israel launching new air strikes in Iran if the Iranian regime tries to rebuild its degraded nuclear sites or attempts to enrich uranium on its home ground.
Netanyahu claimed that Israeli and U.S. strikes against Iran have “changed the face of the Middle East,” creating an opportunity to expand the 2020 Abraham Accords, which led to normalization agreements between Israel and its Arab and Muslim neighbors.
Syria is among the potential new candidates for membership.
Since the downfall of the Assad dynasty last December, Syria has been ruled by Ahmed al-Shara, a former member of Al Qaeda and Islamic State. Recognizing that the new Syrian government can be pulled into the Western sphere of influence, the United States has lifted economic sanctions on Syria.
At last night’s dinner, Netanyahu presented Trump with a letter he had sent to the Nobel Prize committee nominating him for that prestigious award. It is common knowledge that Trump hungers for such recognition.
In his letter, Netanyahu does not mention Gaza, but cites Trump’s “pivotal role” in brokering normalization accords between Israel and the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Morocco and Sudan.
“President Trump has demonstrated steadfast and exceptional dedication to promoting peace, security and stability around the world,” Netanyahu wrote in his July 1 letter.
Flattery is expected to solidify Netanyahu’s relationship with Trump.