On Tuesday, Binyamin Netanyahu becomes the first foreign leader to visit the White House since Donald Trump took office on January 20th.
Buoyed by the instrumental role his envoy Steve Witkoff played in negotiating the first phase of the ceasefire days before he took the oath of office, President Trump will enter Tuesday’s White House meeting intent on continuing on a pathway to free all remaining hostages and end the conflict in Gaza.
Saturday’s joint statement by Arab nations led by Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Jordan explicitly rejected Trump’s recent suggestion that Palestinians might be evacuated from Gaza, warning that any plan involving the “uprooting of Palestinians from their land” would cause instability.
The Israel leader will be intent on convincing Mr Trump of the fragile nature of his coalition government, with finance minister Bezalel Smotrich leading the push for continuing war until Hamas has been destroyed.
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But he is returning to a different White House than last July and is unlikely to find Trump as patient as he was in his first term in office – and nothing like as accommodating as Joe Biden.
Mr Netanyahu arrived at Andrews Air Force Base in Maryland on Sunday to a red-carpet reception and an honour guard replete with US and Israeli flags. His visit in Washington is expected to generate protests outside the White House, as did his previous visit, with the then president, Joe Biden, last July.
He met Mr Witkoff for a briefing on Monday. Tuesday’s White House meeting will be followed by a meeting on Wednesday with US military leaders and a visit to Capitol Hill on Thursday for meetings with members of Congress.
It has already been made clear to Mr Netanyahu that President Trump wants an end to the Gaza war and the implementation of the next stages of the complicated Gaza ceasefire agreement without delay.
The good news for Israel is that this will mean the return of all the hostages but the price is high and will include the release of hundreds more militants from Israeli prisons while Hamas is still intact in Gaza.
Under such circumstances, the last remaining far-right party in Mr Netanyahu’s coalition, the Religious Zionist party led by Smotrich, could quit the government, possibly forcing new elections.
Mr Netanyahu is hoping to soften the blow for his political base by returning from Washington with significant achievements on two fronts: progress towards normalisation with Saudi Arabia and crushing US sanctions to curb Iran’s nuclear programme and regional influence.
“We can strengthen Israel’s security, we can expand the circle of peace even further, we can usher in a wonderful new era that we never even dreamed about. An era of prosperity, security and peace from strength,” he said before departing for Washington.
Mr Netanyahu is seeking to ensure that a permanent ceasefire will lead to the return of all the hostages, the demilitarisation of Gaza, exiling Hamas’s leaders and no Hamas involvement in the postwar administration of Gaza.
According to Israeli officials, if Hamas does not agree, the war will resume. “Israel wants to reach the second stage, which would allow for the release of more hostages and prolong the ceasefire. It is offering Hamas the opportunity to continue to exist as an organisation, but not in Gaza,” said an Israeli official familiar with the contacts.
But Mr Smotrich laid down some red lines of his own on Monday. “An agreement with Saudi Arabia cannot include offering hope to the Palestinian Authority, a supporter of terrorism, or to Arabs in Judea, Samaria (the West Bank) and Gaza, regarding the prospect of establishing a Palestinian state within the heart of Israel,” he warned, stressing that Hamas’s military and political power must be removed.
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