In what would be their second White House sit-down since Trump’s return to office, Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu will meet the US President on Monday. The talks are expected to focus on tariffs and Gaza, among other areas.
Netanyahu-Trump meeting: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is slated to hold his second meeting with American President Donald Trump on Monday after the latter assumed the presidency in the United States in January this year. The meeting, confirmed by a White House official, comes against the backdrop of Israel deploying troops in a new security corridor across Gaza to pressure the Hamas militant group. Netanyahu’s office has stated that the meeting will focus on “the tariff issue, the efforts to return our hostages, Israel-Turkey relations, the Iranian threat and the battle against the International Criminal Court.” Notably, Israel faces a 17 per cent tariff under Trump’s latest tariff announcements.
Here’s how first meeting with Trump helped Netanyahu
Netanyahu became the first foreign leader to be invited to the White House in February, just after Trump resumed his second term as president. Earlier, the meeting focused on Israel’s war with Hamas and the next steps as a ceasefire deal took hold.
The February meeting with Trump helped Netanyahu display the Trump administration’s support for Israel to the world and distract from political pressures back home, as well as defend the conduct of the war.
Netanyahu faces pressure back home
However, Netanyahu faces pressure back home as Israelis protest both the lack of a deal to bring remaining hostages home from Gaza and Netanyahu’s moves to fire the head of the country’s domestic security agency and its attorney general. He also faces calls to accept responsibility for his role in failing to prevent the October 7 attack.
Hostages’ family urge Trump to ‘pressure’ Netanyahu
In a statement Saturday, relatives of hostages held in Gaza pleaded with Trump to “please use all your power to pressure Netanyahu to end this war and bring our hostages back now.”
Trump has also hinted that the first foreign trip of his second administration, which could come as soon as May, will include stops in Saudi Arabia, Qatar and possibly the United Arab Emirates, and “other places.
The US President has said that he wants to acknowledge Saudi Arabia’s investment in the US by rewarding the country and that all Gulf countries would be making commitments to creating jobs in the US during his trip.
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