Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has visited former United States President Donald Trump at his Mar-a-Lago property in Florida for talks as Trump dismissed any suggestion of tensions between the pair.
Netanyahu met Trump, the Republican candidate in November’s presidential election, on Friday, a day after Netanyahu met Democratic President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris, who is anticipated to run towards Trump.
The assembly capped a weeklong US go to by Netanyahu that has been met with widespread protests, boycotts from US lawmakers and warnings from rights teams about Israel’s battle on Gaza.
Trump greeted Netanyahu and his spouse Sara and criticised Harris, who had voiced concern in public feedback after assembly the Israeli chief concerning the toll on Palestinian civilians from Israel’s assault on the besieged territory.
“I feel her remarks have been disrespectful,” Trump mentioned.
Netanyahu mentioned Israel can be dispatching a negotiating group to debate a proposal for a Gaza ceasefire in Rome “in all probability in the beginning of the week”, in line with pool reporters.
He mentioned he thought there had been motion in efforts to forge a ceasefire due to Israeli army strain.
Trump dismissed any suggestion of tensions with Netanyahu, saying the pair had “all the time had an excellent relationship”.
Netanyahu’s go to adopted an address to a joint session of the US Congress, a White Home assembly with Biden and a separate assembly with Harris.
Lengthy seen as adept at navigating shifting US political winds, Netanyahu’s last US cease on the journey has extensively been considered as an effort to fix ties with Trump earlier than the November 5 election.
Trump, whose time period as president stretched from January 2017 to January 2021, took a permissive and transactional method to US-Israel ties that empowered Netanyahu’s authorities whereas largely sidelining Palestinian pursuits.
However Netanyahu’s acceptance of Biden’s victory within the 2020 presidential election whereas Trump claimed fraud noticed the relationship sour.
“F*** him,” Trump mentioned of Netanyahu in an interview on the time.
“I nonetheless like Bibi,” he added. “However I additionally like loyalty.”
Earlier than Friday’s assembly, officers instructed Israeli media that Netanyahu’s had already begun his allure offensive, calling Trump for the primary time in years this month.
Throughout his speech to Congress, Netanyahu took specific time to focus on a number of of Trump’s actions whereas in workplace, together with mediating the Abraham Accords, which noticed Israel set up ties with a number of Arab international locations, in addition to Trump’s determination to maneuver the US embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem and recognise 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 handle to Congress, Netanyahu met with Biden on the White Home, the place officers mentioned the US president pressed the Israeli chief on a US proposal for a Gaza ceasefire.
In line with Palestinian officers, at the least 39,175 individuals have been killed and 90,403 injured in Israel’s battle on Gaza, which started in October.
Israel launched the battle after the October 7 Hamas-led assaults on southern Israel killed at the least 1,139 individuals, in line with an Al Jazeera tally primarily based on Israeli statistics. About 250 individuals have been taken captive throughout the assaults.
Within the early days of the battle, Biden had embraced Netanyahu whereas giving little point out to Palestinian struggling. Whereas his administration has since taken a rhetorically more durable line with Israeli officers, it has continued to supply political and weapons help to Israel.
This week, Amnesty Worldwide mentioned it was placing the US “on discover” that Israel had used weapons of US origin in battle crimes and it “shall be complicit in additional violations dedicated with these weapons”.
On Thursday, Netanyahu additionally met with Harris, who’s on monitor to formally turn into the Democratic Get together’s presidential nominee subsequent month after Biden’s shock announcement on Sunday that he would finish his re-election bid.
Many analysts noticed Harris’s feedback after the assembly as trying to mediate the administration’s continued help for the battle with the home political fallout it has induced. She mentioned the battle was “not a binary situation”.
“We can’t look away within the face of those tragedies.We can’t permit ourselves to turn into numb to the struggling. And I cannot be silent,” she mentioned, whereas persevering with to pledge help for Israel.
“To everybody who has been calling for a ceasefire and to everybody who yearns for peace, I see you, and I hear you,” she mentioned.
The statements, seen as extra firmly foregrounding the civilian toll of the battle than earlier messages from the Biden administration, have been met with a swift rebuke from Netanyahu’s far-right allies in Israel.
“Madam candidate, there shall be no cessation of hostilities,” Nationwide Safety Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir wrote on X.