Trump & Netanyahu hold talks
Washington: President Donald Trump and Benjamin Netanyahu are set to meet Tuesday as the Israeli prime minister faces competing pressure from his right-wing coalition to end a temporary truce against Hamas militants in Gaza and from war-weary Israelis who want the remaining hostages home and the 15-month conflict to end.
Trump is guarded about the long-term prospects for the truce, even as he takes credit for pressuring Hamas and Israel into the hostage and ceasefire agreement that went into effect the day before he returned to office last month.
“I have no guarantees that the peace is going to hold,” Trump told reporters on Monday.
The leaders’ talks are expected to touch on a long-sought Israel-Saudi Arabia normalisation deal and concerns about Iran’s nuclear programme, but hammering out the second phase of the hostage deal will be at the top of the agenda.
Netanyahu’s arrival in Washington for the first foreign leader visit of Trump’s second term comes as the prime minister’s popular support is lagging. Netanyahu is in the middle of weekslong testimony in an ongoing corruption trial that centres on allegations he exchanged favours with media moguls and wealthy associates. He has decried the accusations and said he is the victim of a “witch hunt”.
Being seen with Trump, who is popular in Israel, could help distract the public from the trial and boost Netanyahu’s standing.
It’s Netanyahu’s first travel outside Israel since the International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants in November for him, his former defence minister and Hamas’ slain military chief, accusing them of crimes against humanity during the war in Gaza. The US does not recognise the ICC’s authority over its citizens or territory.
Netanyahu and Trump’s Mideast envoy Steve Witkoff on Monday began the daunting work of brokering the next phase of a ceasefire agreement.
Netanyahu said in statement that the meeting with Witkoff and US National Security Adviser Michael Waltz was “positive and friendly”.
The Israeli leader said he would send a delegation to Qatar to continue indirect talks with Hamas that are being mediated by the Gulf Arab country, the first confirmation that those negotiations would continue. Netanyahu also said he would convene his security Cabinet to discuss Israel’s demands for the next phase of the ceasefire when he returns to Israel at the end of the week.
Netanyahu is under intense pressure from hard-right members of his governing coalition to abandon the ceasefire and resume fighting in Gaza to eliminate Hamas. Bezalel Smotrich, one of Netanyahu’s key partners, vows to topple the government if the war isn’t relaunched, a step that could lead to early elections.
Hamas, which has reasserted control over Gaza since the ceasefire began last month, has said it will not release hostages in the second phase without an end to the war and Israeli forces’ full withdrawal. Netanyahu, meanwhile, maintains that Israel is committed to victory over Hamas and the return of all hostages captured in the Oct 7, 2023 attack that triggered the war.
Mira Resnick, a former deputy assistant secretary of state for Israeli and Palestinian affairs, said Trump may “have little patience for political woes of Netanyahu if it gets in the way of the broader goals of this administration.”
“The president started his term by saying that he wanted the ceasefire to be in place by Jan. 20. That’s what he got,” Resnick said. “He is invested in this because he was able to take credit for it.” Einav Zangauker, whose son Matan is among the hostages, called on Trump to use American leverage to keep Netanyahu committed to the agreement.
Matan, 24, is among those who are expected to be included in the second phase of the deal, when all remaining living hostages — including men under the age of 50 and male soldiers — are to be exchanged for a yet-to-be-determined number of Palestinian prisoners. The second phase is also expected to include the full withdrawal of Israeli troops from Gaza.
