Netanyahu to meet Trump in US next week: Israeli official

JERUSALEM - Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is due to meet US President Donald Trump in Florida on Dec 29, an Israeli official told AFP, in what is seen as a crucial visit for the next steps of the fragile Gaza truce plan.

It will be Mr Netanyahu’s fifth visit to see his key ally, Mr Trump, in the US in 2025.

His trip comes as the Trump administration and regional mediators push to proceed to the second stage of the ceasefire between Israel and Hamas
in the Gaza Strip.

An Israeli official on Dec 27 said Mr Netanyahu would leave for the US on Dec 28 and meet Mr Trump a day later in Florida, without providing a specific location.

Mr Trump told reporters in mid-December that Mr Netanyahu would probably visit him in Florida during the Christmas holidays.

“He would like to see me. We haven’t set it up formally, but he’d like to see me,” Mr Trump said before leaving for his Mar-a-Lago resort.

Israel’s Yedioth Ahronoth newspaper reported on Dec 24 that a wide range of regional issues was expected to be discussed, including Iran, talks on an Israel-Syria security agreement, the ceasefire with Hezbollah in Lebanon and the next stages of the Gaza deal.

‘Going nowhere’

Concerning Gaza, the timing of the meeting is “very significant”, said Mr Gershon Baskin, the co-head of peace-building commission Alliance for Two States, who has taken part in back-channel negotiations with Hamas.

“Phase one is basically over; there’s one remaining Israeli deceased hostage (who) they (Hamas) are having difficulty finding,” he told AFP news agency.

“Phase two has to begin, it’s even late, and I think the Americans realise that it’s late because Hamas has had too much time to re-establish its presence and this is certainly not a situation that the Americans want to leave in place,” he added.

Progress in moving to the second phase of October’s Gaza ceasefire agreement
, which was brokered by Washington and its regional allies, has so far been slow.

Both sides allege frequent ceasefire violations, and mediators fear that Israel and Hamas alike are stalling.

Under the next stages, Israel is supposed to withdraw from its positions in Gaza, an interim authority is to govern the Palestinian territory instead of Hamas, and an international stabilisation force (ISF) is to be deployed.

It also includes a provision for Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas to lay down its weapons – a major sticking point.

On Dec 26, US news outlet Axios reported that the meeting between Mr Trump and Mr Netanyahu was key to advancing to the next steps of the deal.

Citing White House officials, Axios said that the Trump administration wanted to announce the Palestinian technocratic government for Gaza and the ISF as soon as possible.

It reported that senior Trump officials have grown “increasingly frustrated as Netanyahu has taken steps to undermine the fragile ceasefire and stall the peace process”.

Yedioth Ahronoth said the prospect of Iran rebuilding its nuclear programme and ballistic missile capabilities was likely to top the agenda for Mr Netanyahu.

“There are more and more signs that the American administration is getting frustrated with Netanyahu,” said Professor Yossi Mekelberg, a Middle East expert at London-based think-tank Chatham House.

“The question is what it’s going to do about it,” he added, “because phase two is right now going nowhere.”

Iran tops agenda

While the Trump administration is keen for progress on Gaza, analysts said the prospect of Iran rebuilding its nuclear programme and ballistic missile capabilities was likely to top the agenda for Mr Netanyahu.

“All the news that we’ve heard in the Israeli media over the last two weeks about Iran building up its missiles and being a threat to Israel is all part of a planned strategy of deflecting attention from Gaza to the issue that Netanyahu loves to talk about, which is Iran,” said Mr Baskin.

In June, Israel launched strikes on Iranian military and nuclear sites, as well as residential areas.

Iran responded with drone and missile strikes on Israel, and later on, in the 12-day war, the United States joined Israel in targeting Iranian nuclear facilities.

Prof Mekelberg shared the view that Mr Netanyahu could be attempting to shift attention from Gaza onto Iran.

With Israel entering an election year, Prof Mekelberg said that, with regard to the Trump meeting, Mr Netanyahu would be “taking a defensive approach, to minimise what can be difficult for him coming back home”.

“Everything is connected to staying in power,” he said of the long-time Israeli Premier. AFP