Jerusalem:
The Prime Minister of Israel, Benjamin Netanyahu, went on Sunday for the United States, where he will become the first foreign leader to meet with Donald Trump since the president of the United States returned to office.
His visit occurs when a fragile truce is maintained between Israel and Hamas in Gaza, and between Israel and Hezbollah in Lebanon. Both groups of operators are backed by Iran.
Before addressing their flight, Netanyahu said that the couple would discuss “the victory over Hamas, achieving the liberation of all our hostages and dealing with the Iranian terrorist axis.”
During his first term, Trump declared that Israel “never had a best friend in the White House”, an attitude that seems to have suffered.
Before leaving, Netanyahu described him “saying” that he would be the first foreign leader to meet Trump since his inauguration.
“I think it is a testimony of the Force of the Israeli-American Alliance,” he said.
After Hamas attack on October 7, 2023 against Israel, Trump’s predecessor, Joe Biden, had maintained military and diplomatic support for Israel.
But the Biden administration also distanced himself on the growing death count of the later war in Gaza and delays to help deliveries.
Trump has moved quickly to restore relationships.
Shortly after returning to the White House, according to the reports, he approved a sending of 2,000 -pound bombs to Israel, which the Biden administration had blocked, and raised sanctions to Israeli settlers accused of violence against the Palestinians.
After the high fire entered into force in Gaza last month after 15 months of war, Trump promoted a plan to “clean” the Palestinian territory, asking the Palestinians to move to neighboring countries such as Egypt or Jordan.
His position has reinforced the need for Netanyahu of strong American ties while navigating national and regional pressures.
Celine Touboul, co -director of the Foundation for Economic Cooperation, a group of experts from Tel Aviv, said “for Netanyahu, a privileged relationship with the White House is an essential tool.”
Stabilization of the region
Despite Trump’s first movements, Netanyahu will face a president determined to boost his own agenda when the couple meets Tuesday.
Trump’s officials have warned that “the renewed combination in the Middle East would distract Trump’s new team to address what Trump defines as more pressing priorities,” said the Soufan Center based in New York.
These include “ensuring the southern border of the United States of illegal migration and establishing the Russia-Ukraine war,” said the group of experts.
Beyond that, “Trump wants to reorient his priorities towards Asia-Pacific,” said David Khalfa, a researcher at the Jean Jaures Foundation in Paris.
“He believes, like his predecessors, that he must stabilize the region first and create an anti-dire coalition with his strategic partners,” including Israel and Saudi Arabia, he said.
‘Political margin’
It is likely that conversations cover Netanyahu concessions must accept to revive normalization efforts with Saudi Arabia.
Riad froze the discussions at the beginning of Gaza’s War and hardened his position, insisting on a resolution to the Palestinian theme before reaching any agreement.
“Today there is an ideological alignment between the populist, the American law Trumpist and the Israeli prime minister,” Khalfa said.
But Netanyahu’s “political margin is very small on Trump’s face, which does not have re -election pressure,” he added.
Indirect negotiations between Israel and Hamas will resume this week in the second phase of the Gaza Truce agreement.
If you succeed, the agreement could lead to the release of the remaining hostages in Gaza, both dead and lively, and potentially end the war.
Netanyahu’s office said the discussions would begin with the envoy of the Middle East of Trump, Steve Witkoff, Monday.
But it faces intense pressure within its ruling coalition of extreme right politicians who tries to restart Gaza’s war once the current six -week truce ends.
Israeli finance minister, Bezalel Smotrich, threatened to resign the government if the war does not restart, potentially stripping most of Netanyahu, mostly.
The prime minister faces an election between Washington’s demands and the increasingly impatient political sponsors.
“If Trump asks him to make concessions to the Palestinians to obtain normalization between Israel and Saudi Arabia, Netanyahu will have to choose between a privileged relationship with the US president or maintain his coalition,” Touboul said.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a union feed).
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