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Netanyahu Gears Up for Critical Discussions With Trump in Washington on Gaza, Iran, Saudi Relations
Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu meets with US President Donald Trump during a meeting in the Oval Office at the White House in Washington, DC, Sept. 15, 2020. Photo: REUTERS/Tom Brenner
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has landed in Washington, DC ahead of a planned series of discussions with US President Donald Trump and other top American officials, as he is set to become the first foreign leader to visit the White House since Trump’s inauguration last month.
“I’m leaving for a very important meeting with President Trump in Washington,” he said in a statement. “The fact that this would be President Trump’s first meeting with a foreign leader since his inauguration is telling. I think it’s a testimony to the strength of the Israeli-American alliance. It’s also a testimony to the strength of our personal friendship.”
The Israeli premier listed “victory over Hamas, achieving the release of all our hostages, and dealing with the Iranian terror axis in all its components” as being among the “very important issues” he expected to discuss.
Trump used similar language to discuss the significance of their meeting.
“The discussions on the Middle East with Israel and various and sundry other countries are progressing,” Trump told reporters on the tarmac at Joint Base Andrews in Maryland on Sunday. “Bibi Netanyahu’s coming on Tuesday, and I think we have some very big meetings scheduled.”
Before meeting Trump on Tuesday, Netanyahu was slated to hold a Monday meeting with US Envoy to the Middle East Steve Witkoff, during which the two men were expected to hammer out details of the second phase of Israel’s ceasefire with the Palestinian terrorist group Hamas.
Under phase one of the Gaza ceasefire and hostage-release deal reached last month, Hamas will, over six weeks, free a total of 33 Israeli hostages, eight of whom are deceased, and in exchange, Israel will release over 1,900 Palestinian prisoners, many of whom are serving multiple life sentences for terrorist activity. Meanwhile, fighting in Gaza will stop as negotiators work on agreeing to a second phase of the agreement, which is expected to include Hamas releasing all remaining hostages held in Gaza and the complete withdrawal of Israeli forces from the enclave.
Observers expect Netanyahu to press for an extension of the first phase of the ceasefire — meaning, the continuation of the release of three to four Israeli hostages every week — which would buy Israel more time to negotiate the freedom of its citizens without having to vacate troops from Gaza.
Netanyahu and Trump are also expected to discuss the second phase of the ceasefire deal during their sit-down on Tuesday. Trump is expected to push Netanyahu to accept concessions to end the war against Hamas, which could include the removal of Israeli troops from the Philadelphi Corridor separating Gaza from Egypt — a route that Hamas has used in the past to smuggle weapons into Gaza.
In addition, Trump and Netanyahu are likely to discuss the potential of normalizing relations between Israel and Saudi Arabia. Saudi Arabia shelved normalization discussions with Israel as a result of the war in Gaza, accusing the Jewish state of committing “genocide.”
Recently, however, Riyadh has softened its position, indicating that any normalization agreement with Israel would need to include a pathway to the formation of a Palestinian state. A permanent end to the war in Gaza could open the possibility of strengthening and expanding the Abraham Accords, a series of historic, US-brokered normalization agreements between Israel and several countries in the Arab world during the first Trump administration.
However, many lawmakers within Israel’s parliament oppose the establishment of a Palestinian state at this time, arguing such a proposal would both reward terrorism and create a launching pad for attacks on the Jewish state’s borders. Moreover, Netanyahu faces immense pressure from within his right-wing voting base and governing coalition inside Israel to resume the war against Hamas, which started the conflict with its invasion of the Jewish state on Oct. 7, 2023.
Another topic of conversation between Netanyahu and US officials will likely be Iran, particularly how to contain its nuclear program and combat its support for terrorist proxies across the Middle East. In recent weeks, many analysts have raised questions over whether Trump would support an Israeli strike on Iran’s nuclear facilities, which both Washington and Jerusalem fear are meant to ultimately develop nuclear weapons.
This week’s trip marks Netanyahu’s first visit to Washington since last summer, in which the prime minister delivered a speech to a joint session of the US Congress. A large number of Democratic lawmakers, including presidential nominee Kamala Harris and former Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, skipped Netanyahu’s speech.
When departing for the US on Sunday, Netanyahu expressed optimism about his upcoming meeting with Trump.
“I believe that we can strengthen security, broaden the circle of peace, and achieve a remarkable era of peace through strength,” Netanyahu said.
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FBI Investigating ‘Targeted Terror Attack’ in Boulder, Colorado, Director Says
FILE PHOTO: FBI Director Kash Patel testifies before the Senate Appropriations Committee hearing on President Trump’s proposed budget request for the Federal Bureau of Investigation, on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., U.S., May 8, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque/File Photo
FBI Director Kash Patel said on Sunday the agency was aware of and fully investigating a targeted terror attack in Boulder, Colorado.
While he did not provide further details, Patel said in a social media post: “Our agents and local law enforcement are on the scene already, and we will share updates as more information becomes available.”
According to CBS News, which cited witnesses at the scene, a suspect attacked people with Molotov cocktails who were participating in a walk to remember the Israeli hostages who remain in Gaza.
The Boulder Police Department said it was responding to a report of an attack in the city involving several victims. It has not released further details but a press conference was expected at 4 p.m. Mountain Time (2200 GMT).
The attack comes just weeks after a Chicago-born man was arrested in the fatal shooting of two Israeli embassy employees in Washington, D.C. Someone opened fire on a group of people leaving an event hosted by the American Jewish Committee, an advocacy group that fights antisemitism and supports Israel.
The shooting fueled polarization in the United States over the war in Gaza between supporters of Israel and pro-Palestinian demonstrators.
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Terrorist Responsible for Death of 21 Soldiers Eliminated
An Israeli F-35I “Adir” fighter jet. Photo: IDF
i24 News – Khalil Abd al-Nasser Mohammed Khatib, the terrorist who commanded the terrorist cell that killed 21 soldiers in the southern Gaza Strip on January 22, 2024, was killed by an Israeli airstrike, the IDF said on Sunday.
In a joint operation between the military and the Shin Bet security agency, the terrorist was spotted in a reconnaissance mission. The troops called up an aircraft to target him, and he was eliminated.
Khatib planned and took part in many other terrorist plots against Israeli soldiers.
i24NEWS’ Hebrew channel interviewed Dor Almog, the sole survivor of the mass casualty disaster, who was informed on live TV about the death of the commander responsible for the killing his brothers-in-arms.
“I was sure this day would come – I was a soldier and I know what happens at the end,” said Almog. “The IDF will do everything to bring back the abductees and to topple Hamas, to the last one man.”
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Stanley Fischer, Former Fed Vice Chair and Bank of Israel Chief, Dies at 81
FILE PHOTO: Vice Chair of the U.S. Federal Reserve System Stanley Fischer arrives to hear Governor of the Bank of England Mark Carney delivering the Michel Camdessus Central Banking Lecture at the International Monetary Fund in Washington, U.S., September 18, 2017. Photo: REUTERS/Joshua Roberts/File Photo
Stanley Fischer, who helped shape modern economic theory during a career that included heading the Bank of Israel and serving as vice chair of the US Federal Reserve, has died at the age of 81.
The Bank of Israel said he died on Saturday night but did not give a cause of death. Fischer was born in Zambia and had dual US-Israeli citizenship.
As an academic at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Fischer trained many of the people who went on to be top central bankers, including former Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke as well as Mario Draghi, the former European Central Bank president.
Fischer served as chief economist at the World Bank, and first deputy managing director at the International Monetary Fund during the Asian financial crisis and was then vice chairman at Citigroup from 2002 to 2005.
During an eight-year stint as Israel’s central bank chief from 2005-2013, Fischer helped the country weather the 2008 global financial crisis with minimal economic damage, elevating Israel’s economy on the global stage, while creating a monetary policy committee to decide on interest rates like in other advanced economies.
He was vice chair of the Federal Reserve from 2014 to 2017 and served as a director at Bank Hapoalim in 2020 and 2021.
Current Bank of Israel Governor Amir Yaron praised Fischer’s contribution to the Bank of Israel and to advancing Israel’s economy as “truly significant.”
The soft-spoken Fischer – who played a role in Israel’s economic stabilization plan in 1985 during a period of hyperinflation – was chosen by then Finance Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Prime Minister Ariel Sharon as central bank chief.
Netanyahu, now prime minister, called Fischer a “great Zionist” for leaving the United States and moving to Israel to take on the top job at Israel’s central bank.
“He was an outstanding economist. In the framework of his role as governor, he greatly contributed to the Israeli economy, especially to the return of stability during the global economic crisis,” Netanyahu said, adding that Stanley – as he was known in Israel – proudly represented Israel and its economy worldwide.
Israeli President Isaac Herzog also paid tribute.
“He played a huge role in strengthening Israel’s economy, its remarkable resilience, and its strong reputation around the world,” Herzog said. “He was a world-class professional, a man of integrity, with a heart of gold. A true lover of peace.”
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