Trump and Netanyahu, Aiming To Promote Mutual Mideast Goals, Tout Good Relations

“It’s mostly up,” President Trump said when a reporter asked about his perceived “up and down” relationship with Prime Minister Netanyahu. The two leaders answered questions Tuesday at the White House, where the Israeli guest became the first foreign head of state to visit in Mr. Trump’s second term. Mr. Netanyahu said that good relations between America and Israel are essential for Mideast progress. The two leaders met for more than an hour Tuesday to discuss top Mideast issues, including the Islamic Republic of Iran’s race to become a nuclear power, a possible peace pact between Israel and Saudi Arabia, and the end to the incarceration of Israeli hostages in Gaza. Israeli opponents of the prime minister fear that Mr. Netanayhu might forgo the American-sponsored Gaza deal for political reasons, as some of his ruling coalition partners oppose ending the war as part of the deal. Israeli protesters outside the White House called on Mr. Trump to pressure the premier to ensure that all hostages are returned. “When Israel and the United States work together, and President Trump and I work together, you know, the chances go up a lot,” Mr. Netnayahu said when asked about hostage release. Referring to disagreements that occasionally occurred between him and President Biden, the premier added that when Israel and America “don’t work together, that creates problems when the other side sees daylight between us.”Negotiations started on Monday over phase two of the Washington-brokered cease-fire agreement, in which all 79 remaining hostages, dead and alive, are expected to be transferred to Israel. Mr. Netanayahu on Monday met with the president’s envoy, Steve Witkoff, and the national security adviser, Michael Waltz, to launch the talks, and Israeli officials will go to Doha later this week to work out the details. Following phase two of the deal, a third stage requires the reconstruction of Gaza. Mr. Trump has made clear that his preferred plan involves evacuation of the Strip’s residents to Arab countries. Next week, President al-Sisi of Egypt and Jordan’s King Abdullah II are expected to meet the president at the White House to discuss the plan.The two leaders have recruited Arab counterparts, including from Saudi Arabia, to issue a strongly-worded letter against Mr. Trump’s plan. “Gaza has been a disaster for decades,” the president countered. “Why would anyone want to return” to Gaza? “Nobody can live there.” Instead, he added, several areas could be erected around the Arab world where Gazans could live there in peace. We “can build them through a massive amount of money supplied by other people, very rich nations,” he said.As a pushback intensifies at Washington, and even more so at Arab capitals, Mr. Trump insisted the plan is attainable, and that when the Jordanian and Egyptian leaders visit him next week, they too would agree to his plan. “It could be Jordan, and it could be Egypt, it could be other countries, and you could build four or five or six areas,” Mr. Trump, a former real estate developer, said. “You take certain areas and you build really good quality housing, like a beautiful town, like some place where they can live and not die.” In preparation for Mr. Netanyahu’s arrival, Mr. Trump signed several executive orders that would appear to please the Israeli leader. The White House is preparing a $1 billion military package for Israel, including bulldozers and 2,000-pound bombs that could be used to strike Iran’s nuclear facilities. Mr. Trump declined to say whether he would green-light an Israeli attack on the facilities, but he announced the renewal of his “maximum pressure” policies, vowing to stop all of the Islamic Republic’s lucrative oil exports.“I’m signing this, and I’m unhappy to do it, but I really have not so much choice,” he told reporters while authorizing an executive order renewing Iran sanctions. The president said he would love to negotiate with Tehran, but “they can’t have a nuclear weapon. It would be very tough if they insist on doing that.”Mr. Trump also ordered sanctions on the International Criminal Court, which has issued arrest warrants for Mr. Netanyahu, and announced America’s withdrawal from the anti-Israel United Nations Human Rights Council and Unesco.He also ended all funding for the UN Relief and Works Agency, which has been accused of cooperating with Hamas, the terrorist group that has used its Gaza facilities to incarcerate Israeli hostages. “I’ve always felt that the UN has tremendous potential. It’s not living up to that potential right now,” Mr. Trump said.

Trump and Netanyahu, Aiming To Promote Mutual Mideast Goals, Tout Good Relations

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