Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to Hold Talks with President Donald Trump in US Amidst Fears of Israel's Wider Military Actions
The Israeli premier is scheduled to sit down with Donald Trump at the Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida on Monday evening. This comes as anxieties mount that Israel could launch new operations against neighboring adversaries, possibly dragging the Middle East deeper into turmoil.
The Israeli leader flew from Israel on Sunday, representing his fifth visit to see Trump in the United States over the past twelve months.
Truce in Gaza and Pending Hurdles
High on the agenda will be the ceasefire in Gaza, which in October brought an end to the destructive two-year war. While the terms for an initial phase have been for the most part fulfilled, with Israeli forces pulling back to new positions and Hamas releasing the surviving and nearly all of the deceased hostages, significant challenges confront the implementation of the second phase of the US-brokered 20-point plan.
There are further fears that Israel will undertake new military campaigns against Hezbollah in Lebanon, violating a ceasefire agreed upon more than a year ago, or against Iran, which it alleges of ramping up the production of ballistic missiles in recent months.
“The first phase is essentially over, there’s one remaining Israeli deceased hostage which [Hamas] are having difficulty finding,” said an analyst involved in back-channel talks.
The two adversaries accuse each other of ceasefire violations. Hamas has failed to formally commit to laying down its weapons and has had notable achievements in asserting its control in the parts of Gaza where the vast majority of population is located. Israel is reluctant to retreat from the 53% of Gaza it now controls or to enable the unhindered flow of aid into the territory.
“Phase 2 has to begin … and I think the Americans realise that it’s late because Hamas has had too much time to rebuild its strength and this is absolutely not a situation that the Americans want to allow to continue,” the expert stated.
Civilian Toll and Present Conditions
More than 70,000 Palestinians, predominantly civilians, died in Gaza during the war and nearly the entire the territory’s 2.3 million population was uprooted. About 400 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza since the October ceasefire, and huge numbers continue to live in conditions of extreme difficulty.
In the last month, downpours and freezing conditions have compounded the misery in Gaza, where the majority of housing and infrastructure have been badly damaged or razed.
The war was precipitated by a sudden assault by Hamas in southern Israel in 2023, in which 1,200 people, mostly civilians, were killed and 250 others captured.
Subsequent Phases and Diplomatic Tensions
Under the subsequent phases of the US proposal, an transitional administration made up of independent Palestinian experts is to run the Palestinian territory instead of Hamas. An multinational peacekeeping force of thousands of troops is to be deployed.
US officials have hinted the membership of the new authority could be revealed in January.
Reports indicate that senior US officials are becoming impatient “as Netanyahu has taken steps to sabotage the fragile ceasefire and impede the peace process”.
“There are growing evidence that the American administration is getting frustrated with Netanyahu,” said a regional analyst. “The question is what it’s going to do about it, because phase 2 is right now going nowhere.”
Netanyahu's Key Objectives
For Netanyahu, a main goal will be urging Trump to allow Israel to act to prevent Iran from rebounding inflicted on its nuclear programme or expanding its ballistic missile capabilities.
Meanwhile, efforts to secure a security agreement between Israel and Syria have not advanced meaningfully and will also be on the agenda at Mar-a-Lago. Israeli officials have also called for more decisive measures to disarm Hezbollah.
Netanyahu faces an election within 10 months, and the looming polls will influence his agenda. “Everything is connected to [his] staying in power,” an analyst said.
Opinion surveys show Netanyahu’s current coalition would struggle to form a government if elections were held now. Many voters are angry over the shortcomings that led to the 2023 Hamas raid, policies concerning military service exemptions, and a series of scandals.
A tight alliance with Trump would reinforce Netanyahu’s appeal among undecided voters and his base. This indicates any open rift between the two leaders is very doubtful, analysts said.
Netanyahu is expected to seek to persuade Trump of the need for Israel to maintain a defence advantage over potential regional enemies. Many Israeli officials were shaken by past US comments regarding advanced weapons sales to other regional states.
