KEY POINTS
  • Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is meeting with Donald Trump in the White House on Tuesday.
  • The two leaders will discuss the ceasefire deal with Hamas, as well as Iran's nuclear plans and normalizing relations with Saudi Arabia.
  • This is Netanyahu's first time leaving Israel since being issued an arrest warrant by the ICC.

Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is visiting the White House on Tuesday to meet with President Donald Trump. This will be Trump’s first in-person meeting with another world leader since returning to office.

The meeting is expected to focus on negotiating the second phase of the three-phase ceasefire deal with Hamas, per The New York Times. The two leaders are also expected to discuss Iran’s nuclear efforts, arms shipments and a potential deal to normalize relations with Saudi Arabia.

The first phase of the ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas included Hamas agreeing to release 33 prisoners in exchange for Israeli Troops pulling back from populated areas of Gaza and Israel releasing hundreds of Palestinian prisoners.

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Trump has repeatedly claimed credit for the deal, which the Biden administration negotiated for months. But now the second phase of the deal is under Trump’s watch.

On Monday, Trump told reporters “I have no guarantees that the peace is going to hold,” according to The Associated Press.

Before meeting with Trump, Netanyahu met with Trump’s Middle East envoy, Steve Witkoff.

Netanyahu said in a statement that once he returns to Israel he will meet with his security cabinet “to discuss Israel’s overall positions regarding the second stage of the deal, which will guide the continuation of the negotiations,” according to The New York Times.

The second phase of the ceasefire deal is set to include Hamas returning all remaining living hostages, in exchange for a so far undetermined number of Palestinian prisoners from Israel, per the AP.

The relationship between Trump and Netanyahu

Netanyahu’s visit to Washington, D.C., is set to last multiple days, and is meant to show the close ties between the prime minister and Trump, especially after the war between Israel and Hamas strained the relationship between Netanyahu and President Joe Biden.

According to CNN, relations between American and Israeli leaders became so strained by the end of Biden’s term that they went months without speaking.

Ahead of the presidential election in November, it was clear that Netanyahu favored a Trump victory as he believed Trump would allow him to accomplish his war aims better than Democratic candidate Kamala Harris would.

These assumptions by Netanyahu were not wrong. Trump has already lifted a hold on deliveries of heavy bombs to Israel, taking back a Biden-era policy meant to exert leverage on Israel, per CNN.

Over the weekend, Trump told reporters he was looking forward to the meeting as the two forged a strong partnership during the president’s first term.

According to The New York Times, despite the close relationship between the two, they will be coming to the meeting at odds with each other on several key issues. This conflict includes how to confront Iran about their nuclear aims and bringing the war with Hamas to a quick end.

The arrest warrant against Netanyahu

According to The New York Times, an arrest warrant was issued for Netanyahu by the International Criminal Court, accusing the prime minister of war crimes during the conflict with Hamas. This is also the first time Netanyahu has left Israel since the arrest warrant was issued in November.

Trump is popular in Israel, so being seen with him could help boost Netanyahu’s standing and help distract the public from his trial, per CNN.

The ICC’s authority over citizens and territory is not recognized by the U.S.

Iran’s nuclear plans

On Monday it was reported that Iran is working on how to build a cruder atomic weapon that they would be able to develop quickly, if the leadership in Tehran so wishes, per The New York Times.

“Netanyahu has said for years that letting Iran become a nuclear power would be an existential threat to Israel and an enormously destabilizing event for the United States and nations across the globe,” per The New York Times.

A deal aiming to put limits on Iran’s nuclear ambitions was negotiated during the Obama administration but Trump pulled out of it in 2018.

It is expected that Trump and Netanyahu will discuss ways to keep Iran from successfully building a bomb. Potential solutions include military action against the country’s nuclear facilities, per The New York Times.

Netanyahu has advocated for the idea of military action in the past, but after pressure from the U.S. Israel has always pulled back.

Normalizing relations with Saudi Arabia

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Along with Iran’s nuclear plans, Netanyahu and Trump are also expected to discuss the potential of normalizing relations with Saudi Arabia, an idea which Trump pushed during his first term. But none of this can happen without an end to the fighting in the Gaza Strip, per CNN.

Biden also worked to push the idea, but the efforts were stalled after the war between Israel and Hamas started in 2023.

Saudi Arabia’s crown prince, Mohammed bin Salman declared his kingdom will not establish diplomatic relations with Israel before the “establishment of a Palestinian state,” per The New York Times, a declaration that could complicate normalization talks.

During his visit, Netanyahu is also asking the U.S. to move forward with a set of pending arms transfers to Israel which would total more than $8 billion worth of bombs, missiles, artillery and other weapons.

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