Miami, July 26 (RHC)-- Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has visited former United States President Donald Trump at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida for talks as Trump dismissed any suggestion of tensions between the pair.
Netanyahu met Trump, the Republican candidate in November’s presidential election, on Friday, a day after Netanyahu met Democratic President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris, who is expected to run against Trump.
The meeting capped a weeklong U.S. visit by Netanyahu that has been met with widespread protests, boycotts from U.S. lawmakers and warnings from rights groups about Israel’s war on Gaza.
Trump greeted Netanyahu and his wife Sara and criticised Harris, who had voiced concern in public comments after meeting the Israeli leader about the toll on Palestinian civilians from Israel’s assault on the besieged territory. “I think her remarks were disrespectful,” Trump said.
Netanyahu said Israel would be dispatching a negotiating team to discuss a proposal for a Gaza ceasefire in Rome “probably at the beginning of the week”, according to pool reporters. He said he thought there had been movement in efforts to forge a ceasefire because of Israeli military pressure.
Trump dismissed any suggestion of tensions with Netanyahu, saying the pair had “always had a very good relationship.” Netanyahu’s visit followed an address to a joint session of the US Congress, a White House meeting with Biden and a separate meeting with Harris.
Long seen as adept at navigating shifting U.S. political winds, Netanyahu’s final U.S. stop on the trip has widely been viewed as an effort to mend ties with Trump before the November 5 election.
Trump, whose term as president stretched from January 2017 to January 2021, took a permissive and transactional approach to U.S.-Israel ties that empowered Netanyahu’s government while largely sidelining Palestinian interests.
But Netanyahu’s acceptance of Biden’s victory in the 2020 presidential election while Trump claimed fraud saw the relationship sour.
“Fuck him,” Trump said of Netanyahu in an interview at the time. “I still like Bibi,” he added. “But I also like loyalty.”
Before Friday’s meeting, officials told Israeli media that Netanyahu’s had already begun his charm offensive, calling Trump for the first time in years this month.
During his speech to Congress, Netanyahu took particular time to highlight several of Trump’s actions while in office, including mediating the Abraham Accords, which saw Israel establish ties with several Arab countries, as well as Trump’s decision to move the U.S. embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem and recognize Israel’s claim to the Syrian-occupied Golan Heights. Trump later thanked the Israeli leader during an interview on Fox News.
