Reports say U.S. President Donald Trump has invited Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to the White House on February 4th as the first foreign leader to visit the U.S. for Trump’s second term.
Reports say U.S. President Donald Trump has invited Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to the White House on February 4th as the first foreign leader to visit the U.S. for Trump’s second term.
The announcement came as the United States pressures Israel and Hamas to continue a ceasefire that paused a devastating 15-month war in Gaza.
Talks about the ceasefire’s more difficult second phase, which aims to end the war, are scheduled to begin Monday.
Trump teased the upcoming visit in a conversation with reporters aboard Air Force One on Monday, but didn’t provide details.
Israel is the largest recipient of U.S. military aid, and Netanyahu is likely to encourage Trump not to hold up some weapons deliveries the way the Biden administration did, though it continued other deliveries and overall military support.
Netanyahu also wants Trump to put more pressure on Iran and renew efforts to deliver a historic normalization agreement between Israel and Saudi Arabia, a rival of Iran and the Arab world’s most powerful country.
