WashingtonHe discontent expressed by Donald Trump with Benjamin Netanyahu Two weeks ago, he had vanished from the Blue Room table where the two leaders and their respective delegations sat this Monday night to dine and discuss the future of the Middle East. The US bombing of Iran has further inflated the ego of the Israeli prime minister, who has visited Washington for the third time since Trump returned to power, more than any other foreign leader. Netanyahu is confident that with the Republican in the White House he will be able to carry out his plans for ethnic cleansing, but before going into the details, he wanted to take credit for the attack on Iranian nuclear facilities.
With Trump, everything seems to be so on track for Netanyahu that he has let the president know that he has nominated him for the Nobel Peace Prize. "I want to present to you, President, the letter I sent to the Nobel Prize Committee, proposing you as a candidate for the peace prize, which is well deserved," said the Israeli leader, handing him the letter, which Trump received with a "wow". Trump has long expressed public belief that he deserves the Nobel Peace Prize, even going so far as to complain about not receiving it.
The gesture is particularly symbolic given that this is the first time the two leaders have met face-to-face since Washington attacked him "with force." Netanyahu also emphasized that the attack on Iran is a test of the alliance with Washington and his collaboration with the president. "I think the partnership between Israel and the United States, the partnership between President Trump and me, produced a historic victory. "He united the great capabilities of the United States with the great capabilities of Israel, the army of Israel, the pilots of Israel, the soldiers of Israel, and the Messiah," Netanyahu said.
Not to be outdone, Trump compared his decision to bomb Iran's nuclear facilities to that of the bombing of Japan during World War II. "If you go back a long way, this reminded people of another specific event," he said.
Before returning to the White House, Trump promised during the campaign that he would end the war in Ukraine within 24 hours and bring peace to the Middle East. Almost half a year after his inauguration, none of that happened. On the contrary. Netanyahu met again with the president after indirect negotiations between Egypt, Qatar, and the US to achieve a ceasefire in Gaza. Last week, Hamas responded positively to the proposal for a 60-day truce in the Gaza Strip in exchange for the return of the remaining hostages it is holding, dead or alive. On Monday, the Israeli prime minister made it clear that he wanted a peace agreement to end the war with Hamas that did not include a Palestinian state.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu with US President Donald Trump at the White HouseAvi Ohayon / GPO
"We will reach a peace agreement with our Palestinian neighbors, those who do not want to destroy us," he said, "and we will reach a peace agreement in which our security, sovereign power in matters of security, will always remain in our hands. Now people will say: 'It's not a complete state, it's not a state. It's not that. ' Netanyahu's statement came at the heels of Trump, who sought to ignore a reporter's question about a two-state solution.
In addition to vetoing the creation of a Palestinian state, Netanyahu once again repeated the euphemism of "freedom of choice" to defend his plans for ethnic cleansing in Gaza: "It's called free choice. You know, if people want to stay, they can stay, but if they want to leave." During the first meeting in February, Trump already made it clear that he supported this idea and that he intended to turn the Strip into the new "Riviera" of the Middle East. Since then, he has been pressuring neighboring countries, especially Egypt and Jordan, to welcome the Palestinian exodus.
"We are working very closely with the United States to find countries that want to make good on what they always say: that they want to give a better future to the Palestinians. I think we are close to finding several countries," Netanyahu said. While the president reaffirmed his statements: "We have had great cooperation from the surrounding countries... great cooperation from each of them. So something good is going to happen." From Tel Aviv, this Monday, Defense Minister Israel Katz announced plans to set up a camp in the ruins of the city of Rafah, in southern Gaza, where 600,000 Gazans would be forced to settle and, once inside, would be unable to leave. Katz has instructed the army to carry it out, according to several Israeli media outlets.
Trump wants to send weapons to Ukraine again, and Kiev responds
During the meeting, Trump also announced he would send more weapons to Ukraine. "We're sending more weapons. We have to. They have to be able to defend themselves," the president said, days after the administration ordered a pause in the shipment of some critical supplies to Kiev's troops . "They're being hit very hard right now," he added. "We'll have to send more weapons, defensive weapons, primarily." These statements came just days after Trump's call with Russian President Vladimir Putin, after which he said he was "very disappointed" with the Kremlin.
In a subsequent statement, the Department of Defense announced that, at the president's direction, it will send more defensive weapons to Ukraine to ensure Ukrainians can defend themselves while efforts toward a lasting peace continue. "Our framework for the President of the United States to assess military deployments around the world remains in place and is critical to our America-first defense priorities," the brief statement reads.
For its part, the Zelensky administration responded that it wants to clarify the details of the announcement and needs to be able to predict military supplies. In a statement from the Ministry of Defense, Kiev explains that it has not received official confirmation of the shipments and that "the stability, continuity, and predictability" of the shipments are of "vital importance." The statement also adds its gratitude for the "efforts of American partners aimed at achieving genuine peace."
In response, Moscow has attempted to water down the US president's announcement, stating that "there has been no definitive information regarding the completion and recovery of the shipments. There have been many contradictory statements." Russian presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov stated that "the shipments continue" and focused criticism on military support from European countries. "These actions are not compatible with attempts at a peaceful resolution of the conflict," the Kremlin representative asserted.
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