Netanyahu to meet with Trump at the White House next week


The Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, will become the first foreign leader to meet with President Donald Trump during his second term with a White House trip next week.

A White House official confirmed to NBC News that Trump had extended an invitation to Netanyahu and that he accepted. Netanyahu’s office said they agreed to meet on February 4.

“I hope to discuss how we can bring peace to Israel and its neighbors, and efforts to counteract our shared adversaries,” Trump wrote in a letter to Netanyahu on Tuesday.

Trump had prior to his plans to meet with Netanyahu on Monday telling journalists that Netanyahu would come to Washington to meet with him “in the not too distant future.”

Follow the live policy coverage

Israel and Hamas reached a high fire agreement this month after 15 months of war that killed thousands of people in the Gaza Strip, displaced the Palestinians and left uncertainty about the future of the hostages that Hamas remained in caution .

Trump had said that he wanted Jordan and Egypt to accept more Palestinian refugees as part of an effort to “clean” Gaza, comments that were welcome by Israeli ultra -nationalist politicians.

Steve Witkoff, the envoy of the Middle East of Trump, met with Netanyahu in Israel on January 11, days before the agreement was ended.

Witkoff addresses Israel this week to discuss the high fire and other regional issues on his first visit to the Middle East since Trump assumed the position for a second mandate. He has publicly said that he intends to enter the Gaza Strip during his trip.

Trump spoke on the phone last week with the Saudi heir prince Mohammed Bin Salman on his first call with a foreign leader after his second term began.

Trump has suggested that his first trip abroad could be to the United Kingdom or Saudi Arabia. He told reporters on Monday: “We will make that determination during the next week.” His first trip abroad during his first term went to Saudi Arabia.

Netanyahu was the last in the White House in July to meet with President Joe Biden. He also addressed legislators in a joint session in Capitol Hill.

During that visit, Netanyahu made comparisons between the attack of October 7, 2023, Hamas and the attack on Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, in 1941 and pointed to people who protested for the war in his speech of the congress. He also thanked Trump, who at that time was looking for a return to the White House.



Source link

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *