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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.
The post Netanyahu Gears Up for Critical Discussions With Trump in Washington on Gaza, Iran, Saudi Relations first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Lebanon Must Disarm Hezbollah to Have a Shot at Better Days, Says US Envoy
Thomas Barrack at the Brooklyn Federal Courthouse in Brooklyn, New York, U.S., November 4, 2022. Photo: REUTERS/Brendan McDermid/File Photo
i24 News – Lebanon’s daunting social, economic and political issues would not get resolved unless the state persists in the efforts to disarm Hezbollah, the Iranian proxy behind so much of the unrest and destruction, special US envoy Tom Barrack told The National.
“You have Israel on one side, you have Iran on the other, and now you have Syria manifesting itself so quickly that if Lebanon doesn’t move, it’s going to be Bilad Al Sham again,” he said, using the historical Arabic name for the region sometimes known as “larger Syria.”
The official stressed the need to follow through on promises to disarm the Iranian proxy, which suffered severe blows from Israel in the past year, including the elimination of its entire leadership, and is considered a weakened though still dangerous jihadist outfit.
“There are issues that we have to arm wrestle with each other over to come to a final conclusion. Remember, we have an agreement, it was a great agreement. The problem is, nobody followed it,” he told The National.
Barrack spoke on the heels of a trip to Beirut, where he proposed a diplomatic plan for the region involving the full disarmament of Hezbollah by the Lebanese state.
The post Lebanon Must Disarm Hezbollah to Have a Shot at Better Days, Says US Envoy first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Report: Putin Urges Iran to Accept ‘Zero Enrichment’ Nuclear Deal With US
Russian President Vladimir Putin meets Iranian counterpart Masoud Pezeshkian on the sidelines of a cultural forum dedicated to the 300th anniversary of the birth of the Turkmen poet and philosopher Magtymguly Fragi, in Ashgabat, Turkmenistan, Oct. 11, 2024. Photo: Sputnik/Alexander Scherbak/Pool via REUTERS
i24 News – Russian President Vladimir Putin has told Iranian leadership that he supports the idea of a nuclear deal in which Iran is unable to enrich uranium, the Axios website reported on Saturday. The Russian strongman also relayed the message to his American counterpart, President Donald Trump, the report said.
Iranian news agency Tasnim issued a denial, citing an “informed source” as saying Putin had not sent any message to Iran in this regard.
Also on Saturday, Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi stated that “Any negotiated solution must respect Iran’s right to enrichment. No agreement without recognizing our right to enrichment. If negotiations occur, the only topic will be the nuclear program. No other issues, especially defense or military matters, will be on the agenda.”
The post Report: Putin Urges Iran to Accept ‘Zero Enrichment’ Nuclear Deal With US first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Syria’s Al-Sharaa Attending At Least One Meeting With Israeli Officials in Azerbaijan
Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa speaks during a joint press conference with French President Emmanuel Macron after a meeting at the Elysee Palace in Paris, France, May 7, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Stephanie Lecocq/Pool
i24 News – Syrian President Ahmed Al-Sharaa is attending at least one meeting with Israeli officials in Azerbaijan today, despite sources in Damascus claiming he wasn’t attending, a Syrian source close to President Al-Sharaa tells i24NEWS.
The Syrian source stated that this is a series of two or three meetings between the sides, with Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shaibani also in attendance, along with Ahmed Al-Dalati, the Syrian government’s liaison for security meetings with Israel.
The high-level Israeli delegation includes a special envoy of Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu, as well as security and military figures.
The purpose of the meetings is to discuss further details of the security agreement to be signed between Israel and Syria, the Iranian threat in Syria and Lebanon, Hezbollah’s weapons, the weapons of Palestinian militias, the Palestinians camps in Lebanon, and the future of Palestinian refugees from Gaza in the region.
The possibility of opening an Israeli coordination office in Damascus, without diplomatic status, might also be discussed.
The source stated that the decision to hold the meetings in Azerbaijan, made by Israel and the US, is intended to send a message to Iran.
The post Syria’s Al-Sharaa Attending At Least One Meeting With Israeli Officials in Azerbaijan first appeared on Algemeiner.com.