Netanyahu meets with Trump, aimed at repairing a broken relationship of several years

2024-07-26 18:22:19Kosova&Bota SHKRUAR NGA REDAKSIA VOX
Netanyahu meets with Trump, aimed at repairing a broken relationship of several
Trump and Netanyahu

Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump is expected to meet today with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for the first time in nearly four years. The meeting will take place at his residence in Mar-a-Lago, Florida.

Mr. Trump appears to be aiming to repair the relationship that was damaged at the end of his presidency and portray himself as an ally and statesman. For Mr. Trump, now the Republican presidential nominee, the meeting could help bolster Republican efforts to emerge as the party most loyal to Israel. For Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu, repairing relations with Mr. Trump is of utmost importance given the prospect of him once again being president of the United States, Israel's main defender and arms supplier.

As President, Mr. Trump went beyond his predecessors in fulfilling Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's top wishes for the United States. But after leaving the White House, relations between them broke down in early 2021, after Mr Netanyahu quickly congratulated Mr Joe Biden on winning the 2020 election.

"Bibi (Benjamin Netanyahu) could have kept quiet," Mr. Trump said at the time in an interview with an Israeli newspaper. "He did a great job."

Today's meeting will be a test of whether the relationship can be improved. Both have an interest in overcoming their differences.

For both, the meeting will highlight for the citizens of the respective countries the portrayal they intend to make of their image as strong leaders who have managed to accomplish important acts on the world stage and who can do it again. such.

In his address to Congress on Wednesday, Mr. Netanyahu expressed gratitude to Mr. Biden who has continued to offer military and diplomatic support for Israel's offensive in Gaza despite opposition within the Democratic Party.

But Mr. Netanyahu praised Mr. Trump, calling the regional agreements that were brokered by the former President historic and thanking him "for everything he did for Israel."

He listed the actions of Mr. Trump's administration, from the official declaration by the United States that Israel has sovereignty over the Golan Heights; to Washington's tougher policy on Iran and the Trump administration's recognition of Jerusalem as Israel's capital, reversing a long-standing US policy that Jerusalem's status should be decided in negotiations between Israelis and the Palestinians.

In an interview with the Fox News network yesterday, Mr. Trump expressed his criticism of the way Israel is conducting the war in Gaza, from which 39,000 Palestinians have been killed so far.


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