Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu says Trump has invited him to the White House on Feb. 4
WADI GAZA, Gaza Strip — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Tuesday that President Donald Trump has invited him to visit the White House on Feb.4, which would make him the first foreign leader to do so in Trump’s second term.The announcement came as the United States pressures Israel and Hamas to continue a ceasefire that has paused a devastating 15-month war in Gaza.
Talks about the ceasefire’s more difficult second phase, which aims to end the war, are set to begin on Feb.3.A letter shared by Netanyahu’s office, dated Tuesday, invited the prime minister to visit next week: “I look forward to discussing how we can bring peace to Israel and its neighbors, and efforts to counter our shared adversaries.”The letter didn’t specify a date, and it was not clear how Netanyahu’s office came up with Feb.
4There was no immediate comment from the White House.Trump teased the upcoming visit in a conversation with reporters aboard Air Force One on Monday, but didn’t provide details.
“I’m going to be speaking with Bibi Netanyahu in the not too distant future,” he said.The meeting would be a chance for Netanyahu, under pressure at home, to remind the world of the support he has received from Trump over the years, and to defend Israel’s conduct of the war.Last year, the two men met face-to-face for the first time in nearly four years at Trump’s Florida Mar-a-Lago estate.Israel is the largest recipient of U.S.
military aid, and Netanyahu is likely to encourage Trump not to hold up some weapons deliveries the way the Biden administration did, though it continued other deliveries and overall military support.Netanyahu also wants Trump to put more pressure on Iran, and renew efforts to deliver a historic normalization agreement between Israel and Saudi Arabia, a rival of Iran and the Arab world’s most powerful country.Even before taking office this month, Trump was sending his special Middle East envoy, Steve Witkoff, to the region to apply ...