US President Donald Trump met Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Florida yesterday for talks on breaking a deadlock over the Gaza ceasefire and addressing Israeli concerns about Iran and Lebanese group Hizbollah.
Speaking to reporters as the two leaders entered Trump’s Mar-a-Lago beach club in Florida, Trump struck a decidedly supportive tone with Netanyahu, even as some aides and allies have suggested the Israeli leader was slow-walking elements of the ceasefire accord signed in October.
Trump said he wanted to move to the second phase of the ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas as soon as possible, but that “there has to be a disarming of Hamas.”
He added that he would be open to supporting another rapid Israeli attack on Iran if that country keeps developing its ballistic missile and nuclear weapons programs.
“I feel that if you had the wrong prime minister, Israel would not exist,” Trump told reporters, in remarks full of praise for the Israeli leader.
He added that he hoped Israel could get along with Syria, even as Netanyahu’s government has consistently infringed upon Syrian territorial sovereignty since former strongman Bashar Al Assad was deposed late last year.
While Israel and Palestinian group Hamas signed a ceasefire deal in October, alleged violations have been frequent, and little apparent progress has been made on longer-term goals.
Netanyahu said this month that Trump had invited him for talks, as Washington pushes to establish transitional governance and an international security force for the Palestinian enclave against Israeli reluctance to move forward.
While Washington has brokered three ceasefires involving its longtime ally – between Israel and Hamas, Israel and Iran, and Israel and Lebanon – Netanyahu is wary of Israel’s foes rebuilding their forces after they were considerably weakened in the war.
Trump said yesterday that Israeli President Isaac Herzog had told him a pardon for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was “on its way,” an assertion Herzog’s office was quick to challenge.
“He’s a wartime prime minister who’s a hero. How do you not give a pardon” Trump told reporters while standing beside Netanyahu before a meeting in Florida.
“I spoke to the president ... he tells me it’s on its way.”
Asked about the U.S. president’s remarks, Herzog’s office said the Israeli president had not had any conversations with Trump since a pardon request was submitted several weeks ago.
Herzog’s office said Herzog had spoken to a representative for Trump then and it was explained that any decision would be made in accordance with established procedures.
Netanyahu, Israel’s first sitting prime minister to be charged with a crime, denies bribery, fraud and breach of trust charges dating back to his 2019 indictment.
His own request for a pardon, submitted on November 30, argued that frequent court hearings impair his ability to govern and that clemency serves the national interest.
The appeal was lodged following the start of a US-brokered ceasefire in Gaza, as his government sought to bring an end to Hamas’ rule under Trump’s plan to end two years of war and expand diplomatic ties across the region.
&uuid=(email))