Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office is planning for the premier to travel to Washington next week to meet with US President Donald Trump, two sources familiar with the matter told The Times of Israel on Monday.
The trip has not been finalized and will be dependent on Netanyahu’s health, as he recovers from prostate surgery, but the plan is for him to depart on Sunday and return on Wednesday.
Netanyahu’s spokesman, Omer Dostri, posted on X that the prime minister had not yet received an official invitation to the White House.
If he travels, Netanyahu will be the first foreign leader to meet Trump in his second term, a gesture from the Republican president to the Israeli leader in return for him acceding to pressure to reach a ceasefire and hostage release deal in Gaza.
Speaking with reporters aboard Air Force One, Trump said Monday that Netanyahu will come to Washington “in the not so distant future,” adding a date will be set for the meeting “very soon.”
Netanyahu’s lawyer this week requested that his client be allowed to testify just once instead of three times over the coming week in his corruption trial, due to what he said were medical complications following the prime minister’s recent prostate removal surgery. The request was denied.
US officials who confirmed Netanyahu is hoping to meet with Trump in Washington next week said the details could be be arranged when Trump’s special Middle East envoy, Steve Witkoff, travels to Israel this week for talks.
Witkoff told an audience at the ceremonial opening of a New York City synagogue on Sunday that he would be traveling to Israel on Wednesday to keep focusing on the agreement between Israel and Hamas.
As Israeli officials planned for Netanyahu’s trip to Washington, Yechiel Leiter on Monday began his first day as Israel’s ambassador to the United States, replacing Michael Herzog, who concluded his tenure on Friday, after three years.
“The relationship between Israel and the United States is founded on shared values ​​and interests, as well as extensive cooperation over decades. I am determined to continue to strengthen this unique relationship, deepen the strategic partnership, promote stability in the Middle East, and strengthen the security and prosperity of the people of Israel,� Leiter said in a statement.
“I carry with me the pain of the families who lost their loved ones in the renewed War of Independence that was forced upon us, but I also bring with me the resilience of the people of Israel — determined to win the war against evil: to defeat Hamas, to bring our hostages home, and to never allow Iran’s proxies to threaten our borders,� Leiter added.
Leiter thanked Netanyahu for appointing him, and hailed the premier’s efforts in “navigating the ship of our nation through the most turbulent days and now leading us to a safe haven.�
Leiter also praised Trump, asserting that “there is no doubt that a true friend of Israel and the Jewish people has returned to the White House.�
“Together with the Trump administration, we will work to strengthen the security and stability of Israel and to formulate an effective regional strategy against the Iranian threat.�
He stressed the importance of the bipartisan nature of the US-Israel relationship, pledging to work with “Republicans and Democrats alike to preserve Israel as a unifying issue that transcends partisan lines.�
Leiter may face an uphill battle on this front, given his decades of efforts to advance Israeli settlements in the West Bank, which are opposed by the vast majority of Democrats.
He was active in supporting the Jewish community of Hebron, even helping establish a new neighborhood in the divided West Bank city. He has written against Palestinian statehood and in favor of Israel annexing the West Bank.
In the 2008 election, he was a candidate on the Likud slate, but did not make it into the Knesset.
Leiter was born in Scranton, Pennsylvania and was active in the far-right Jewish Defense League, headed by the late extremist Rabbi Meir Kahane. He immigrated to Israel in 1978, with other activists from the JDL.
Leiter served as an adviser to former prime minister Ariel Sharon; chief of staff to Netanyahu when he was finance minister; deputy director of the Education Ministry; and acting chair of the Israeli Ports Authority.
He holds a BA in law and political science, an MA in international relations from Catholic University of America in Washington and a PhD in political philosophy from the University of Haifa. His postdoctoral research on the philosophy of John Locke was published by Cambridge University Press. He is also an ordained rabbi.
Leiter, 65, is the father of eight children. His eldest son, Yedidya, was killed fighting in Gaza in November 2023.
Leiter is spending his first day as ambassador meeting with the embassy’s staff, his office said.