JERUSALEM: Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu left on Sunday (Feb 2) for the United States where he will become the first foreign leader to meet Donald Trump since the US president returned to office.
His visit comes as a fragile truce holds between Israel and Hamas in Gaza, and between Israel and Hezbollah in Lebanon. Both militant groups are backed by Iran.
Before boarding his flight, Netanyahu said the pair would discuss “victory over Hamas, achieving the release of all our hostages and dealing with the Iranian terror axis”.
During his first term, Trump declared Israel “never had a better friend in the White House”, an attitude that appears to have endured.
Before departing, Netanyahu called it “telling” that he would be the first foreign leader to meet Trump since his inauguration.
“I think it’s a testimony to the strength of the Israeli-American alliance,” he said.
After Hamas’s Oct 7, 2023 attack on Israel, Trump’s predecessor Joe Biden had maintained military and diplomatic support for Israel.
But the Biden administration also distanced itself over the mounting death toll from Israel’s ensuing war in Gaza and delays to aid deliveries.
Trump has moved quickly to reset relations.
Soon after returning to the White House, he reportedly approved a shipment of 2,000-pound bombs to Israel, which the Biden administration had blocked, and lifted sanctions on Israeli settlers accused of violence against Palestinians.
After the ceasefire took effect in Gaza last month following 15 months of war, Trump touted a plan to “clean out” the Palestinian territory, calling for Palestinians to move to neighbouring countries such as Egypt or Jordan.
His stance has reinforced Netanyahu’s need for strong US ties as he navigates domestic and regional pressures.
Celine Touboul, co-director of the Foundation for Economic Cooperation, a Tel Aviv think-tank, said “for Netanyahu, a privileged relationship with the White House is an essential tool”.
