Washington: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu worked to mend ties with Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump on Friday and offered measured optimism about progress toward a cease-fire deal for Gaza, nearing the end of a contentious U.S. visit that put on display the growing American divisions over support for the Israeli-Hamas war.
At Trumpโs Florida Mar-a-Lago estate, where the two men met face-to-face for the first time in nearly four years, Netanyahu told journalists that he wanted to see U.S.-mediated talks succeed for a cease-fire and release of hostages.
โI hope so,โ Netanyahu said, when reporters asked if his U.S. trip had made progress. While Netanyahu at home is increasingly accused of resisting a deal to end the 9-month-old war to stave off the potential collapse of his far-right government when it ends, he said Friday he was โcertainly eager to have one. And weโre working on it.โ
As president, Trump went well beyond his predecessors in fulfilling Netanyahuโs top wishes from the United States. Yet relations soured after Netanyahu became one of the first world leaders to congratulate Joe Biden for his 2020 presidential victory over Trump.
The two men now have a strong interest in restoring their relationship, both for the political support their alliance brings and for the luster it gives each with their conservative supporters.
A beaming Trump was waiting for Netanyahu on the stone steps outside his private club and residence in Palm Beach, Florida. He warmly clasped the hands of the Israeli leader.
โWeโve always had a great relationship,โ Trump insisted before journalists. Asked as the two sat down in a muraled room for talks if Netanyahuโs trip to Mar-a-Lago was repairing their bond, Trump responded, โIt was never bad.โ
For both men, Fridayโs meeting was aimed at highlighting for their home audiences their depiction of themselves as strong leaders who have gotten big things done on the world stage, and can again.
Netanyahuโs Florida trip followed a fiery address to a joint meeting of Congress on Wednesday that defended his governmentโs conduct of the war and condemned American protesters galvanized by the killing of more than 39,000 Palestinians in the conflict.
On Thursday, Netanyahu had met in Washington with Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris. Both pressed the Israeli leader to work quickly to wrap up a deal to bring a cease-fire and release hostages held by Hamas.
Trumpโs campaign said he pledged in Fridayโs meeting to โmake every effort to bring peace to the Middle Eastโ and combat antisemitism on college campuses if American voters elect him to the presidency in November.
Netanyahu handed Trump a framed photo that the Israeli leader said showed a child who has been held hostage by Hamas-led militants since the first hours of the war. โWeโll get it taken care of,โ Trump assured him.
For Trump, the meeting was a chance to be cast as an ally and statesman, as well as to sharpen efforts by Republicans to portray themselves as the party most loyal to Israel.
Dย ivisions among Americansย over U.S. support for Israelโs war against Hamas in Gaza have opened cracks in years of strong bipartisan backing for Israel, the biggest recipient of U.S. aid.
For Netanyahu, repairing relations with Trump is imperative given the prospect that Trump may once again become president of the United States, which is Israelโs vital arms supplier and protector.
One gamble for Netanyahu is whether he could get more of the terms he wants in any deal on a Gaza cease-fire and hostage release, and in his much hoped-for closing of a normalization deal with Saudi Arabia, if he waits out the Biden administration in hopes that Trump wins.
โBenjamin Netanyahu has spent much of his career in the last two decades in tethering himself to the Republican Party,โ said Aaron David Miller, a former U.S. diplomat for Arab-Israeli negotiations, now a senior fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.
For the next six months, that means โmending ties with an irascible, angry president,โ Miller said, meaning Trump.
Netanyahu and Trump last met at a September 2020 White House signing ceremony for the signature diplomatic achievement of both menโs political careers. It was an accord brokered by the Trump administration in which the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain agreed to establish normal diplomatic relations with Israel.
For Israel, it amounted to the two countries formally recognizing it for the first time. It was a major step in what Israel hoped would be an easing of tensions and a broadening of economic ties with its Arab neighbors.
In public postings and statements after his break with Netanyahu, Trump portrayed himself as having stuck his neck out for Israel as president, and Netanyahu paying him back with disloyalty.
He also has criticized Netanyahu on other points, faulting him as โnot preparedโ for the Oct. 7 Hamas attacks that started the war in Gaza, for example.
In his high-profile speech to Congress on Wednesday and again Friday at Mar-a-Lago, Netanyahu poured praise on Trump, calling the regional accords Trump helped broker historic and thanking him โfor all the things he did for Israel.โ
Netanyahu listed actions by the Trump administration long-sought by Israeli governments โ the U.S. officially saying Israel had sovereignty over the Golan Heights, captured from Syria during a 1967 war; a tougher U.S. policy toward Iran; and Trump declaring Jerusalem the capital of Israel, breaking with longstanding U.S. policy that Jerusalemโs status should be decided in Israeli-Palestinian negotiations.
โI appreciated that,โ Trump told โFox & Friendsโ on Thursday, referring to Netanyahuโs praise.
Trump has repeatedly urged that Israel with U.S. support โfinish the jobโ in Gaza and destroy Hamas, but he hasnโt elaborated on how.
