President Trump welcomed Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to the White House Tuesday, his first in-person meeting with a foreign leader since he started his second term.
The Israeli leader received a warm welcome from Mr. Trump, who greeted him outside the entrance to the White House’s West Wing.
The two leaders shook hands and exchanged smiles as Mr. Netanyahu entered the White House.
During an Oval Office meeting, the two will discuss negotiations for the second phase of the ceasefire deal in Gaza, Iran’s efforts to build a nuclear weapon, new arms for Israel and a plan to bolster relations with Saudi Arabia. Mr. Netanyahu’s visit will conclude with a joint press conference alongside Mr. Trump.
As negotiations begin to implement the second phase of the fragile ceasefire, Mr. Trump remains skeptical that the deal will bring peace to the region.
“I have no assurances that it’ll hold,” Mr. Trump told reporters in the Oval Office Monday. “And I’ve seen people brutalized. I’ve never — nobody’s ever seen anything like it.”
Mr. Trump’s Middle East envoy, Steve Witkoff, was standing next to the president when he delivered the remarks and offered a more rosy picture than his boss.
“It’s holding so far,” Mr. Witkoff said. “We’re certainly hopeful and that’s the president’s direction: Get the hostages out and save lives and come to, hopefully, a peaceful settlement of it all.”
Mr. Trump has taken credit for the deal in which Hamas agreed to release hostages in exchange for a ceasefire even though it was reached during President Biden’s final days in office. However, Mr. Biden’s team acknowledged that Mr. Trump’s return to the White House put pressure on Israel and Hamas to strike a deal. Mr. Trump last had warned that he would unleash “all hell” if the hostages weren’t released by the time he took office.
Mr. Trump and Mr. Netanyahu were close allies during the president’s first term. That relationship grew strained after the Israeli prime minister congratulated Mr. Biden on his 2020 election victory while Mr. Trump was still challenging the results. However, the two appeared to patch things up ahead of the November election amid Mr. Netanyahu’s concerns that Vice President Kamala Harris would not be sufficiently pro-Israel had she won the election.
There are some areas of disagreement between the two leaders. For example, Mr. Trump wants Jordan and Egypt to accept more Palestinian refugees. Mr. Trump also has floated the idea of formalizing relations between Saudi Arabia and Israel, which hinges on an end to the fighting in Gaza.
However, Mr. Netanyahu faces problems at home. His government is facing heavy criticism both at home and abroad over his handling of the Gaza war and he has offered no plan for a post-war Gaza. In addition, he faces an arrest warrant issued by the International Criminal Court accusing him of war crimes during the conflict.
• Jeff Mordock can be reached at jmordock@washingtontimes.com.