WASHINGTON (AFP) – Benjamin Netanyahu and Donald Trump will discuss the future of the Gaza ceasefire as the Israeli prime minister becomes the first foreign leader to visit the White House since the United States (US) president’s return to power.
Netanyahu is in Washington for talks with the new Trump administration on a second, longer-term phase of Israel’s fragile truce with the Palestinian militant group Hamas, which has not yet been finalised.
Trump has meanwhile repeatedly touted a plan to “clean out” Gaza, calling for Palestinians to move to neighbouring countries such as Egypt or Jordan, despite all those parties strongly rejecting his proposal.
Before leaving for Washington, Netanyahu said that Israel’s wars with Hamas in Gaza, Hezbollah in Lebanon and its confrontations with Iran had “redrawn the map” in the Middle East.
“But I believe that working closely with President Trump we can redraw it even further, and for the better,” Netanyahu said.
The White House meeting promises to be a crucial one for a region shattered by war since the deadly October 7, 2023 attacks on Israel.
Netanyahu hailed the fact that he would be the first foreign leader to meet Trump since his January 20 inauguration as “testimony to the strength of the Israeli-American alliance”.
The Israeli premier had tense relations with Trump’s predecessor Joe Biden over the growing death toll in Gaza, despite Biden’s steadfast maintenance of US military aid.
But Trump, who has claimed credit for sealing the ceasefire after 15 months of war and prides himself on his dealmaking ability, will be pushing Netanyahu to stick to the agreement.
He is also expected to lean on Netanyahu to accept a deal to normalise relations with Saudi Arabia, something he tried to do in his first term.
Trump said that talks with Israel and other Middle Eastern countries were “progressing” – but then warned less than 24 hours later that there that were “no guarantees that the peace is going to hold”.
Trump’s Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff – who met Netanyahu on Monday over terms for the second phase of the Gaza truce – said however that he was “certainly hopeful” that the truce would stick.
