By TIA GOLDENBERG and MICHELLE L. PRICE, Related Press
WASHINGTON (AP) — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and U.S. President Donald Trump would possibly look to take a victory lap on Monday after their current joint strikes on Iran, hailed by each as an unmitigated success.
However as they meet on the White Home for the third time this yr, the outwardly triumphant go to will likely be dogged by Israel’s 21-month struggle in opposition to Hamas in Gaza and questions over how onerous Trump will push for an finish to the battle.
Trump has made clear that following the 12-day struggle between Israel and Iran, he wish to see the Gaza battle finish quickly. The assembly between Trump and Netanyahu may give new urgency to a U.S. ceasefire proposal being mentioned by Israel and Hamas, however whether or not it results in a deal that ends the struggle is unclear.
“The utmost precedence for the president proper now within the Center East is to finish the struggle in Gaza and to return the entire hostages,” White Home press secretary Karoline Leavitt advised reporters hours earlier than the 2 leaders meet for a personal dinner.
Earlier than departing for Washington on Sunday, Netanyahu praised the cooperation with the U.S. for bringing a “enormous victory over our shared enemy.” He struck a constructive observe on a ceasefire for Gaza, saying he was working “to attain the deal below dialogue, on the phrases we agreed to.”
The prime minister was scheduled to carry separate conferences on Monday with particular envoy Steve Witkoff and Secretary of State Marco Rubio earlier than the dinner with Trump. Netanyahu is slated to fulfill Tuesday with Republican Home Speaker Mike Johnson.
“I feel that the dialogue with President Trump can actually assist advance that consequence, which all of us hope for,” Netanyahu mentioned.
‘It modifications from daily’
Israel and Hamas look like inching towards a brand new ceasefire settlement that may carry a few 60-day pause within the combating, ship support flooding into Gaza and free at the least a number of the remaining 50 hostages held within the territory.
Leavitt introduced on Monday that Witkoff will journey later this week to Doha, Qatar, for ceasefire and hostage talks.
However a perennial sticking level is whether or not the ceasefire will finish the struggle altogether. Hamas has mentioned it’s keen to free all of the hostages in change for an finish to the struggle and a full Israeli withdrawal from Gaza. Netanyahu says the struggle will finish as soon as Hamas surrenders, disarms and goes into exile — one thing it refuses to do.
Trump has made it clear that he needs to be referred to as a peacemaker. He has repeatedly trumpeted current peace offers that his administration facilitated between India and Pakistan, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Rwanda, and Israel and Iran, and for years has made little secret of the truth that he covets a Nobel Peace Prize.
He has been pressuring Israel and Hamas to wrap up their very own battle, which has killed tens of hundreds of Palestinians, ravaged Gaza, deepened Israel’s worldwide isolation and made any decision to the broader battle between Israel and the Palestinians extra distant than ever.
However the exact particulars of the deal, and whether or not it may result in an finish to the struggle, are nonetheless in flux. Within the days earlier than Netanyahu’s go to, Trump appeared to downplay the possibilities for a breakthrough.
Requested on Friday how assured he was a ceasefire deal would come collectively, Trump advised reporters: “I’m very optimistic — however , look, it modifications from daily.”
On Sunday night, he appeared to slender his expectation, telling reporters that he thought an settlement associated to the remaining hostages can be reached within the coming week.
Trump and Netanyahu are extra in sync than ever
These temper swings even have embodied Trump’s relationship with Netanyahu.
After Trump’s choice to become involved in Israel’s struggle in Iran with strikes on Iranian nuclear websites, the 2 leaders are extra in sync than ever. However that’s not all the time been the case.
As just lately as Netanyahu’s final go to to Washington in April, the tone was markedly totally different.
Trump used the photo-op with Netanyahu to announce that the U.S. was getting into into negotiations with Iran over its nuclear deal — showing to catch the Israeli chief off guard and on the time, slamming the brakes on any Israeli navy plan.
He additionally praised Turkish chief Recep Tayyip Erdogan, a fierce critic of Israel’s, in entrance of Netanyahu, and the 2 made no obvious progress on a commerce deal on the top of Trump’s tariff growth.
Trump, whose insurance policies have largely aligned with Israel’s personal priorities, pledged final week to be “very agency” with Netanyahu on ending the struggle, with out saying what that may entail. Stress by Trump has labored on Netanyahu up to now, with a ceasefire deal having been reached proper because the president was taking workplace once more.
Netanyahu has to stability the calls for of his American ally with the far-right events in his governing coalition who maintain the important thing to his political survival and oppose ending the struggle.
However given the robust U.S. help in Israel’s struggle in opposition to Iran, highlighted by joint airstrikes on a fortified underground Iranian nuclear web site, Netanyahu could have a troublesome time saying no.
On Sunday night, Trump mentioned one of many issues he anticipated to debate with Netanyahu “might be a everlasting take care of Iran.”
Trump additionally could anticipate one thing in return for his current requires Netanyahu’s corruption trial to be canceled — a big interference within the home affairs of a sovereign state.
“Trump thinks that Netanyahu owes him,” mentioned Eytan Gilboa, an knowledgeable on U.S.-Israel affairs at Bar-Ilan College close to Tel Aviv. “And if Trump thinks that he wants to finish the struggle In Gaza, then that’s what he might want to do.”
Trump’s regional imaginative and prescient
The 2 males will focus on the ceasefire with Iran and different regional issues, Leavitt mentioned.
Past Iran is Trump’s grand imaginative and prescient for a brand new Center East, the place he hopes that further nations will be a part of the Abraham Accords, a sequence of agreements normalizing relations between Arab nations and Israel brokered throughout Trump’s first time period.
Netanyahu and Trump are prone to focus on learn how to carry Syria into the fold. The nation, a longtime enemy of Israel’s, has new management after the fall of President Bashar Assad, and specialists say circumstances is perhaps ripe for some type of nonbelligerency settlement.
However Trump’s final purpose is to incorporate regional powerhouse Saudi Arabia.
The Saudis, whose clout may open the door for different Arab or Muslim nations to hitch, have expressed curiosity in normalizing ties with Israel however solely whether it is accompanied by critical steps towards resolving Israel’s battle with the Palestinians. For starters, that would appear to require motion in Gaza.
Goldenberg reported from Tel Aviv, Israel. Related Press writers Lisa Mascaro and Aamer Madhani contributed reporting.
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