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Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu sought on Friday to repair relations with Republican U.S. presidential candidate Donald Trump and expressed modest optimism about progress toward a ceasefire in Gaza. The meeting came at the end of a contentious visit to the United States that highlighted growing divisions in Washington over support for the war in Gaza.
At Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida, their first face-to-face meeting in nearly four years, Netanyahu told reporters he wanted to see U.S.-brokered negotiations for a ceasefire and the release of hostages successful.
“I hope so,” Netanyahu said when asked by reporters whether his U.S. trip had made any progress.
Although Netanyahu is increasingly accused at home of resisting a deal to end the war that began nine months ago to avert the possible collapse of his far-right government, he said on Friday he was “of course eager” to reach a deal, adding: “We are working on it.”
As president, Trump has given Israel far more support than his predecessors. However, relations soured after Netanyahu became one of the first world leaders to congratulate Joe Biden on his victory over Trump in the 2020 presidential election.
Now both have a keen interest in repairing relations, both because of the political support their alliance provides and because of the lustre it brings to them among their respective conservative supporters.
A beaming Trump waited for Netanyahu on the stone steps leading to his private club and residence in Palm Beach, Florida, and he warmly shook the Israeli leader’s hand.
“We’ve always had a great relationship,” Trump insisted to reporters. When the two men sat down to discuss whether Netanyahu’s visit to Mar-a-Lago would repair their relationship, Trump responded that the relationship “has always been great.”
For both countries, Friday’s meeting was intended to reinforce to their respective national audiences their image as strong leaders who have accomplished much on the world stage and can do so again.
Netanyahu visited Florida on Wednesday after delivering a speech to Congress in which he defended the government’s handling of the war and condemned American demonstrators protesting the conflict that has killed more than 39,000 Palestinians.
Netanyahu met with Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris in Washington on Thursday. Both pressed the Israeli president to quickly reach a ceasefire to release hostages being held by Hamas.
Trump’s campaign said the Republican candidate pledged at a meeting on Friday that he would “do everything in my power to bring peace to the Middle East” and combat anti-Semitism on college campuses if U.S. voters elect him president in November.
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