“Few differences”, including the vision on the occupied West Bank, but overall Donald Trump and Benjamin Netanyahu are aligned. In the fifth meeting between the two leaders since the tycoon returned to the White House, this time in the Mar-a-Lago resort which has become the center of world diplomacy in the last 48 hours, The Donald and Bibi discussed the hottest dossiers for the Middle East from the second phase of the peace plan for Gaza to Iran. The commander-in-chief warned Hamas that “if it does not disarm quickly it will pay a high price.” The American president is eager to begin phase two in Gaza after the fragile ceasefire he personally finalized in October. A truce put to the test by continuous Israeli operations in the enclave which, according to the Palestinian Ministry of Health, have killed over 400 people in just a few months. Reconstruction in the Strip, Trump underlined, will begin “very soon, as soon as possible, but there must be the disarmament of Hamas.”
Israel reluctant to withdraw further from Gaza
Precisely in the same hours as the meeting in Florida, the spokesperson for the military wing of the Islamist group, Abu Obeida, reiterated that he “will not give up” his weapons “as long as the occupation continues even if he has to fight with his bare hands”. Bibi remains reluctant to withdraw further from Gaza. The Israeli prime minister demands that Hamas return the remains of the last hostage, Ran Gvili, before proceeding to the next steps. Israel, however, has not yet opened the Rafah crossing between Gaza and Egypt, also a condition contained in the American plan, stating that it will only do so after the return of the body of the sergeant major, whose family accompanied the prime minister to Mar-a-Lago. Trump said he was convinced that Israel had “respected” the plan for Gaza. “I’m not worried about anything Israel is doing,” he underlined, “I’m worried about what others are doing or not doing.” The American president then praised the prime minister, calling him “a war hero” and saying he was sure he would receive a presidential pardon in the corruption trial. A statement, in part, denied by Israeli president Isaac Herzog who said he had had no conversation with Trump about pardoning Bibi.
The Iran question
The Israeli prime minister reciprocated The Donald’s praise by announcing that, next year on the day of his country’s independence, he will give him the “Israel Award” “for his extraordinary contribution to Israel and the Jewish people”. The only disagreement, at least public, between the two leaders is over the actions of Israeli settlers in the West Bank. “Netanyahu and I don’t agree 100% but we will come to a solution,” he said. “He will do the right thing”, he added, indicating the Israeli prime minister with a gesture. But the future of the Strip is only one of the “five topics” on the table of the meeting, as specified by the commander-in-chief himself. It is no mystery that the Israeli prime minister wants a more aggressive policy from Trump on Iran or, at least, his approval to have a free hand towards Tehran. The American president has threatened to launch another attack on Iran if the country tries to rebuild its ballistic missile program or resume its nuclear program. “If that were the case, we will have to intervene to stop them,” he declared. «We will stop them. We will destroy them completely”, he urged, inviting Tehran to find an agreement with the United States. Then there is Syria. Bibi did not like Washington’s openness towards Syrian president Ahmed al-Sharaa. “I hope that Israel gets along with Syria, the president is tough but he is doing a great job”, hoped Trump. Finally, Lebanon for which The Donald has pushed for diplomacy while Israel doubts Beirut’s ability to contain Hezbollah without another military campaign.