Tel Aviv, Israel — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and President Trump sought to take a victory lap Monday after their current joint strikes on Iran, hailed by each as an unmitigated success. However as they meet for the third time this yr on the White Home, the outwardly triumphant go to shall be dogged by Israel’s 21-month struggle in opposition to Hamas in Gaza and questions over how laborious Mr. Trump will push for an finish to the battle.
“This can be a historic victory,” Netanyahu stated on the White Home of the strikes in opposition to Iran. “This has already modified the face of the Center East.”
Mr. Trump has made it clear that following the 12-day struggle between Israel and Iran, he wish to see the Gaza battle finish quickly, ideally with a ceasefire settlement reached this week. The assembly between Mr. Trump and Netanyahu may give new urgency to a U.S. ceasefire proposal being mentioned by Israel and Hamas, however whether or not it would result in a deal that ends the struggle is unclear.
“The optics shall be very optimistic,” stated Michael Oren, a former Israeli ambassador to Washington. “However behind the victory lap are going to be some very severe questions.”
Earlier than departing for Washington on Sunday, Netanyahu praised the cooperation with the U.S. for bringing a “large victory over our shared enemy.” He struck a optimistic be aware on a ceasefire for Gaza, saying he was working “to attain the deal underneath dialogue, on the phrases we agreed to.”
“I feel that the dialogue with President Trump can definitely assist advance that end result, which all of us hope for,” Netanyahu stated.
Israel and Hamas look like inching towards a brand new ceasefire settlement that might deliver a couple of 60-day pause within the combating, ship assist flooding into Gaza and free not less than among the remaining 50 hostages held within the territory, 20 of whom Netanyahu says are nonetheless alive.
Abdalhkem Abu Riash/Anadolu/Getty
However a perennial sticking level is whether or not the ceasefire will finish the struggle altogether. Hamas has stated it’s prepared to free all of the hostages in trade for an finish to the struggle and a full Israeli withdrawal from Gaza. Netanyahu has stated the struggle will solely finish when Hamas is militarily defeated or surrenders, disarms and goes into exile — one thing the terrorist group’s remaining leaders have refused to do.
Trump’s quest to be generally known as peacemaker
Mr. Trump has made it clear that he needs to be generally known as a peacemaker. He is repeatedly touted current peace offers that his administration helped to facilitate — between India and Pakistan, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Rwanda, and Israel and Iran — and for years he has made little secret of the truth that he covets a Nobel Peace Prize.
Forward of a dinner with U.S. and Israeli officers within the White Home’s Blue Room on Monday, Netanyahu offered Mr. Trump with a letter he stated he wrote nominating him for the Nobel Peace Prize. Netanyahu advised Mr. Trump that it is “well-deserved, and it’s best to get it.”
“That is very significant,” Mr. Trump stated.
He has been pressuring Israel and Hamas to wrap up their very own battle, which has killed tens of 1000’s of Palestinians, ravaged Gaza, deepened Israel’s worldwide isolation and made any decision to the broader battle between Israel and the Palestinians extra distant than ever.
However the exact particulars of the proposed ceasefire deal, and whether or not it will possibly result in an finish to the struggle, are nonetheless in flux. Within the days earlier than Netanyahu’s go to, Mr. Trump appeared much less sure of the possibilities of an imminent breakthrough.
Requested on Friday how assured he was {that a} ceasefire deal would come collectively, he advised reporters: “I am very optimistic — however , look, it modifications from day after day.”
On Sunday night, he appeared to slim his expectations, telling reporters that he thought an settlement associated to the remaining hostages can be reached within the coming week.
Gaza peace hinged on Trump and Netanyahu’s private ties?
After Mr. Trump’s resolution to get entangled in Israel’s struggle in Iran with strikes on Iranian nuclear websites, he and Netanyahu have seemed and sounded extra in sync than ever. However that is not at all times been the case.
As not too long ago as Netanyahu’s final go to to Washington in April, the tone was markedly completely different.
Mr. Trump used the photo-op with Netanyahu to announce that the U.S. was getting into into negotiations with Iran over its nuclear deal — showing to catch the Israeli chief off guard and on the time, slamming the brakes on any Israeli army plan.
Alex Wong/Getty 
He additionally praised Turkish chief Recep Tayyip Erdogan, a fierce critic of Israel’s, in entrance of Netanyahu, and the 2 made no obvious progress on a commerce deal on the top of Mr. Trump’s tariff growth.
Mr. Trump, whose insurance policies have largely aligned with Israel’s personal priorities, pledged final week to be “very agency” with Netanyahu on ending the struggle, with out saying what that might entail. Strain by Mr. Trump could have helped to persuade Netanyahu previously, with a earlier ceasefire deal having been reached proper because the president was taking workplace for his second time period.
Netanyahu has to steadiness the calls for of his American ally with the far-right events in his governing coalition who maintain the important thing to his political survival and oppose ending the struggle.
However given the sturdy U.S. assist in Israel’s struggle in opposition to Iran, highlighted by joint airstrikes on three key Iranian nuclear websites, Netanyahu could have a tricky time saying no.
When requested Monday whether or not he would contemplate one other strike in opposition to Iran, Mr. Trump advised reporters, “I hope we’re not going to have to do this. I am unable to think about wanting to do this.”
“They wish to meet. They wish to work one thing out,” Mr. Trump stated of Iran. “They’re very completely different now than they had been two weeks in the past.”
Mr. Trump stated he hoped the struggle between Iran and Israel is over, including that he believes Iran needs “to make peace.”
“I am all for it,” Mr. Trump stated. “Now, if that is not the case, we’re prepared, prepared and in a position, however I do not assume we will should be.”
Netanyahu left the door open to the struggle resuming, telling reporters Monday that “whenever you take away a tumor, that does not imply it will possibly’t come again.”
On Sunday night, Mr. Trump stated one of many issues he anticipated to debate with Netanyahu “might be a everlasting take care of Iran.”
Mr. Trump additionally could anticipate one thing in return for his current requires Netanyahu’s corruption trial to be canceled — a major interference within the home affairs of a sovereign state.
“Trump thinks that Netanyahu owes him,” stated Eytan Gilboa, an skilled on U.S.-Israel affairs at Bar-Ilan College close to Tel Aviv. “And if Trump thinks that he wants to finish the struggle In Gaza, then that’s what he might want to do.”
Trump’s imaginative and prescient for a remade Center East hinged on Gaza
However past Iran is Mr. Trump’s grand imaginative and prescient for a brand new Center East, the place he hopes that further nations will be a part of the Abraham Accords, a collection of agreements normalizing relations between Arab nations and Israel brokered throughout Mr. Trump’s first time period.
Netanyahu and Mr. Trump are more likely to focus on the best way to deliver Syria into the fold. The nation, a longtime enemy of Israel’s, has new management after the autumn of President Bashar Assad, and consultants say circumstances is likely to be ripe for some type of nonbelligerency settlement.
Simply final week, Mr. Trump signed an government order lifting a raft of U.S. sanctions in opposition to the Syrian authorities, paving the way in which for the nation’s new leaders — former Islamist militants who publicly embraced secularism after toppling Assad — to additional cement their governance and be a part of the worldwide neighborhood.
“I feel there’s a chance to discover. I feel that everybody understands the scenario has modified. Earlier than that, Iran was primarily working Syria straight via Hezbollah. Hezbollah has been dropped at its knees. Iran is out of the image. So I feel this presents alternatives for stability, for safety and finally for peace,” Netanyahu stated Monday on the White Home.
However Mr. Trump’s final purpose is to incorporate regional powerhouse Saudi Arabia.
The Saudis, whose clout may open the door for different Arab or Muslim nations to affix, have expressed curiosity in normalizing ties with Israel however solely whether it is accompanied by severe steps towards resolving Israel’s battle with the Palestinians. For starters, that would appear to require motion in Gaza.
“Crucial factor (for Mr. Trump) is to finish the struggle in Gaza,” Gilboa stated. “That’s the key to all of the regional peace within the Center East.”
