The meeting at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago club in Palm Beach, Florida, was the latest stop in a whirlwind trip for the Israeli leader, who on Thursday addressed a joint session of Congress and met with President Biden and Vice President Harris, the leading Democratic nominee. The meeting came on the same day as tensions rose, including raucous protests against Trump’s speech to Congress.
Ms Harris, in her meeting with Netanyahu, pleaded with him to accept a ceasefire that would halt fighting in Gaza and free hostages. U.S. leaders say they are closer than ever to a deal, but a final agreement is yet to materialize.
“Let’s get a deal done so we can have a ceasefire to end the war,” Harris told reporters after the meeting at the White House, also calling for the release of hostages held by Hamas and “the relief that the Palestinian people need.”
The Biden administration has consistently supported Israel since the conflict began when Hamas launched a deadly terrorist attack on Israel on Oct. 7. But the ensuing war has caused Palestinian casualties and tensions to rise, and the U.S. has pressed for a deal, which has yet to be reached. Harris’ comments were likely aimed at applying pressure on Israel and Hamas to bridge remaining gaps.
President Trump also appears eager to see an end to the war and has publicly focused his criticism on Israeli leaders’ public relations efforts regarding the conflict.
Speaking on “Fox & Friends” on Thursday, Trump said Israel has been “devastated” by the bad press surrounding the war with Gaza and told Netanyahu he “want it to end quickly.”
“It needs to end quickly, because they’re being destroyed by this publicity,” Trump said, “and, you know, Israel isn’t very good at public relations.”
Trump expressed surprise that among the “yarmulke-wearing Jews” were supporters of Palestine.
“Israel has to deal with their public relations. Their public relations is not good,” Trump said, “and they have to do this quickly, because the world is not taking this lightly.”
The visit forced Netanyahu to walk a delicate political tightrope, as he arrived just as Biden dropped out of the race, Harris secured the support she needed to clinch the nomination and the general election was in full swing.
Israeli officials have noted that Trump needs a strong relationship with the Biden administration, which will remain in power for the next six months no matter what, but he also wants to smooth things over with Trump for his own politics at home and in case he returns to the White House.
The prime minister’s conservative supporters and his most radical coalition partners have openly been hoping for a Trump victory, looking back on his time in office as a golden age for the Israeli right, as he ignored many of Washington’s neutral positions, moving the U.S. embassy to Jerusalem, recognizing the annexation of the Golan Heights and declaring that West Bank settlements should not be considered illegal as a matter of policy.
Trump also helped secure the 2020 Abraham Accords, a series of treaties that normalized relations between Israel and four Arab countries: the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Sudan and Morocco.
Netanyahu’s conservative supporters say Trump is likely to give Israel free rein in the Gaza war and any political and security agreement that follows.
Public Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir explicitly supported Trump on Wednesday, saying Trump would not disrupt Israel’s fighting, as Biden has done. Earlier this month, Ben Gvir implored his colleagues to abandon the U.S.-backed ceasefire currently being negotiated in Cairo, because it would be a “victory” for Biden and a “bruise” for Trump.
The prime minister has been far more diplomatic, repeatedly insisting that Israel will work closely with whoever becomes president, but Mr Netanyahu has strengthened his ties to the Republican Party and has repeatedly campaigned on his closeness to Mr Trump, including in 2019 when the party hung a photo of the two of them on a Tel Aviv skyscraper.
But their relationship fell apart at the end of the Trump administration, when Trump accused Netanyahu of disloyalty when he called to congratulate Biden after the 2020 election.
Trump also told reporters he blamed Netanyahu for Israel’s withdrawal from the 2020 raid that killed top Iranian general Qassem Soleimani, said the prime minister did not seem seriously interested in seeking peace and praised Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas. Trump called Netanyahu a “son of a bitch” in a 2021 interview.
By April, his anger had not subsided, and he told Time magazine he held Prime Minister Netanyahu responsible for allowing the Hamas attack to happen on October 7. “I had a very bad experience with Bibi,” he said.
In other campaign news on Friday, Harris won the endorsement of former President Barack Obama and former first lady Michelle Obama, the last leading Democrats to endorse her.
“Michelle and I called to let you know we couldn’t be more proud to endorse you and that we’ll do everything in our power to help you win this election and get into the Oval Office,” the former president said in a phone call with Harris, which was recorded and posted to social media.
As Harris’ campaign gets into high gear, her potential running mate, Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro (D), has planned an event in his battleground state on Saturday. Shapiro’s campaign said Harris will “kick off a weekend of action in Pennsylvania to mark 100 days until the election.” The event will take place in Carlisle, central Pennsylvania.
