As regional unrest gets closer to a halt due to Israel’s attacks on Palestine, Lebanon, and Syria and rising tensions with Iran, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will travel to the United States to meet with President Donald Trump.
Netanyahu is to hold talks with Trump at the president’s Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida on Monday as Washington pushes to complete the first phase of the Gaza truce.
Recommended Stories
list of 3 itemsend of list
Despite Israeli near-daily violations of the truce, the US is still pursuing its 20-point “peace plan” in the Palestinian enclave.
Israel is also escalating attacks in the occupied West Bank, Lebanon and Syria as Israeli officials suggest that another war with Iran is possible.
Where are US-Israeli ties going, and what will Netanyahu and Trump talk about?
Al Jazeera looks at the prime minister’s trip to the US and how it may play out.
Netanyahu’s arrival date is when?
The Israeli prime minister will arrive in the US on Sunday. The White House won’t host the discussions, though. Instead, Netanyahu will meet Trump in Florida, where the US president is spending the holidays.
On Monday, the leaders are scheduled to meet for a meeting.
How many times has Netanyahu visited Trump?
Netanyahu will travel to the US for the fifth time in ten months. The Israeli prime minister has been hosted by Trump more than any other world leader.
After Trump’s return to power, he made his first foreign leader to travel to the White House in February.
He visited again in April and July. After attending the UN General Assembly in New York in September, he also met with Trump in Washington, D.C.
What has the relationship between Trump and Netanyahu been like so far?
Netanyahu frequently refers to Trump as Israel’s closest friend.
During his first term, Trump pushed US policy further in favour of Israel’s right-wing government. He halted funding for UNRWA, recognized and asserted that Israel has sovereignty over Syria’s occupied Golan Heights, and relocated the US embassy to Jerusalem.
Since returning to the White House this year, Trump has shown a greater willingness to publicly disagree with Netanyahu. His administration has still unwavering support for Israel, including the decision to rekindle the genocidal war against Gaza in March following a brief ceasefire.
Trump joined the Israeli attack on Iran in June to the dismay of some segments of his base. And he pushed for Gaza’s current truce.
The US president also opposed the Israeli attack on Doha in September. And he quickly lifted the sanctions against Syria despite what appears to be Israeli reservations.
The ties between the two leaders have seen some peaks and valleys. When Netanyahu congratulated Joe Biden on winning the election, Trump was irked because he had falsely claimed that the election was a fraud.
“I haven’t spoken to him]Netanyahu] since”, Trump told the Axios news site in 2021. “F*** him,”
The strong ties between the two leaders were rekindled after Trump won the presidency again in 2024 and unleashed a crackdown on Palestinian rights activists in the US.
Netanyahu, who is facing domestic corruption charges, was formally requested by Israeli President Isaac Herzog in November.
The two leaders, however, are not in complete alignment, and cracks in their positions are showing up over issues that include Gaza, Syria and the US partnerships with Turkiye and the Gulf states.
Netanyahu may try to flatter Trump and establish a friendly relationship with the US president to advance his agenda and show his political rivals in Israel that he still enjoys support from Washington during his US visit.
How has Netanyahu dealt with the US since October 7, 2023?
Netanyahu has demanded unrestricted US military and diplomatic support since the start of the conflict in Gaza.
Then-President Biden travelled to Israel 11 days after Hamas’s October 7, 2023, attacks on southern Israel, and he declared that support for the US ally is “vital for America’s national security”.
His “bear hug” of Netanyahu to Netanyahu on his arrival at Tel Aviv’s airport would set the stage for Israel’s support of Gaza, which has resulted in more than $ 21 billion in military aid and numerous UN Security Council vetoes over the past two years.
Netanyahu has seized on the notion that Israel is an extension of US interests and security structure. The prime minister claimed that Israel is indirectly battling Iran in Gaza and Lebanon in a speech to the US Congress last year.
“We’re not only protecting ourselves. He told US lawmakers, “We’re protecting you.”
Throughout the war, there have been countless reports that Biden and Trump have been displeased or angry with Netanyahu. However, Israel’s political support and weapons supply have not stopped. And Netanyahu makes a point of always expressing gratitude to US presidents, even when there may be apparent tensions.
What position does the US hold regarding the Gaza truce?
US Secretary of State , Marco Rubio said last week that the top priority for the Trump administration is to complete the first stage of the Gaza ceasefire and move from mere cessation of hostilities to long-term governance, stabilisation and reconstruction of the Palestinian enclave.
Israel has frequently violated the ceasefire in Gaza, recently killing at least six Palestinians in an attack on a wedding.
But Trump, who claims to have brought peace to the Middle East for the first time in 3, 000 years, has focused on broadly moving the truce forward rather than on Israel’s daily conduct.
No one is disputing that the status quo is desirable or sustainable over the long term, which is why phase one is urgently needed to be completed, Rubio said last week.
The top US diplomat has also suggested that there could be some flexibility when it comes to disarming Hamas under the agreement, saying the “baseline” should be ensuring that the group does not pose a threat to Israel rather than removing the guns of every fighter.
However, it seems as though Israel has different priorities. Defence Minister Israel Katz said on Tuesday that the country is looking to re-establish settlements in Gaza, which are illegal under international law.
He later refrained from making those remarks, but he nonetheless emphasized that Israel would continue to have a permanent military presence in the area, which would be incompatible with Trump’s strategy.
Expect Gaza to be a key topic of discussion between Netanyahu and Trump.
Can there be a resolution regarding Syria?
Trump has literally and figuratively embraced Syrian President , Ahmed al-Sharaa over the past year, lifting sanctions against the country and beginning security cooperation with his government’s security forces.
In Syria, however, Israel is pursuing its own goals. Hours after the collapse of the government of former President Bashar al-Assad a year ago, Israel began expanding its occupation of Syria beyond the Golan Heights.
The Israeli military launched a bombardment campaign against Syria’s state and military establishments despite the initial emphasis from the new Syrian authorities on their opposition to Israel.
Israeli forces have also been conducting raids in southern Syria and abducting and disappearing residents.
Trump veiled criticism of Israel after the Israeli military killed 13 Syrians in an airstrike last month.
“It is very important that Israel maintain a strong and true dialogue with Syria and that nothing takes place that will interfere with Syria’s evolution into a prosperous state”, he said.
In earlier this year, talks between Syria and Israel failed to reach a level of diplomatic normalization. But the negotiations appeared to collapse after Israeli leaders insisted on holding onto the land captured after al-Assad’s fall.
Trump will likely continue to push for a Syria-Israeli accord now that Netanyahu is in town.
Why is Iran back in the headlines?
Netanyahu’s visit comes as Israel’s public apologies are raised about Iran’s ability to reload its missile arsenal following its 12-day siege in June.
NBC News reported last week that the Israeli prime minister will brief the US president about more potential strikes against Iran.
Trump’s pro-Israel coalition appears to be expressing vocal opposition to Iran’s missile program right away.
US Senator Lindsey Graham visited Israel this month and called Iran’s missiles a “real threat” to Israel.
According to Graham, “This trip is about raising the risk that ballistic missiles present to Israel.”
Trump authorised strikes against Iran’s nuclear sites during the June war, which he said “obliterated” the Iranian nuclear programme.
Fears about a potential Iranian nuclear bomb served as the driving force behind the US involvement in the conflict, despite the lack of any proof that Iran has been using its nuclear arsenal.
So it will be hard for Netanyahu to persuade Trump to back a war against Iran, said Sina Toossi, a senior fellow at the Center for International Policy.
The president puts his reputation as a peacemaker in the center of a potential conflict with Venezuela.
“It could just as well backfire on Netanyahu”, Toossi said of the push for more strikes against Iran. However, he emphasized that Trump is “unpredictable,” and that Rubio, one of his allies, is an anti-Israel hawk.
What is the state of US-Israel relations?
Trump’s support for Israel continues to be unwavering despite growing racial divides on both the left and right sides of the US political spectrum.
This month, the US Congress passed a military spending bill that includes $600m in military aid to Israel.
Israel’s aggressive behavior in the region, including Gaza ceasefire violations and the expansion of illegal settlements in the West Bank, has remained a subject of the Trump administration’s constant refrain from even making verbal criticism.
At a White House Hanukkah celebration on December 16, Trump bemoaned the growing scepticism of unconditional support for Israel in Congress, falsely likening it to anti-Semitism.
The Jewish lobby was the most powerful lobby in Washington at the time, according to historians who studied it for 10, 12, and 15 years. It was Israel. Trump claimed that is no longer accurate.
“You have to be very careful. Particularly in your Congress, which is becoming anti-Semitic.
Despite Trump’s position, analysts said the gap between the strategic priorities of the US and Israel is growing.
Israel wants “total dominance” over the region, including US partners in the Gulf, while Washington is pushing for economic cooperation in the Middle East, Toosi said.
“Israel is pushing this uncompromising posture and strategic objective that I think is going to come to a head more with core US interests”, Toossi told Al Jazeera.
What will the US-Israel alliance do next?
If you drive down Independence Avenue in Washington, DC, you will likely see more Israeli than American flags displayed on the windows of congressional offices.
Despite shifting public opinion, Congress and the White House continue to support Israel. And although criticism of Israel is growing within the Republican base, Israel’s detractors have been pushed to the margins of the movement.
Congressman Tom Massie is facing a primary challenger supported by Trump, commentator Tucker Carlson is facing constant criticism and anti-Semitism, and Marjorie Taylor Greene is leaving the chamber.
Meanwhile, Trump’s inner circle is filled with staunch Israel supporters, including Rubio, megadonor Miriam Adelson and radio show host Mark Levin.
However, in the long run, Israel may have to face a reckoning in American politics given the declining public support, particularly among young people.
On the Democratic side, some of Israel’s strongest supporters in Congress are facing primary challenges from progressive candidates who are centring Palestinian rights.
The American Israel Public Affairs Committee, one of the most powerful pro-Israel lobbying organizations, is becoming increasingly toxic to Democrats.
On the right, the faultlines in the consensus in support of Israel are growing wider. When debates erupted over support for Israel, a subject that conservatives knew would be resolved some time ago, that trend was showcased at the right-wing AmericaFest conference this month.
Although the Trump administration has been pushing to codify opposition to Zionism as anti-Semitism to punish Palestinian rights supporters, Vice President JD Vance has presented a more nuanced view on the issue.
Vance recently told the UnHerd website, “What is actually happening is that there is a real backlash in American foreign policy.
“I think we ought to have that conversation and not try to shut it down. The majority of Americans don’t practice anti-Semitism; they’re never going to. I believe the real debate should be on.
Source: Aljazeera
Leave a Reply