Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is expected to travel to Washington in the coming weeks to meet President Donald Trump, the seventh since the start of the year and the sixth at the White House.
The two leaders spoke on Monday, and after the call the following statement was released by the Prime Minister's Office: "Both leaders spoke of the importance of dismantling Hamas and demilitarizing the Gaza Strip, and discussed expanding regional peace agreements. President Trump invited Prime Minister Netanyahu to a meeting at the White House in the near future."
The agenda between them includes the security situation and the possibility of a future arrangement with Syria, Iran's renewed support for regional terrorism, the stalemate in efforts to end the war in Gaza and dismantle Hamas, and the expansion of the Abraham Accords as part of a major regional deal Trump is seeking to advance in the Middle East.
Netanyahu's invitation signals that there has been movement or at least new ideas that Trump wants to present to the prime minister in order to coordinate next steps on one or more of these issues. The timing, coming shortly after Trump's meeting with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and given Trump's strong emphasis on bringing Saudi Arabia into the Abraham Accords, may indicate that this will be the main focus of the upcoming White House meeting.
Diplomatic sources told Israel Hayom that the war in Gaza and Hamas' refusal so far to give up its weapons may lead to dropping the condition that the war must end before expanding the Abraham Accords. However, Israel would likely be asked to make other concessions, potentially allowing the Palestinian Authority to assume some civilian administrative responsibilities in Gaza. Netanyahu's circle rejects this possibility and insists that the war in Gaza will end only after Hamas is fully dismantled and the threat from the Strip to Israel is eliminated.
In addition, according to those sources, Trump expressed hope during the call that Israeli President Isaac Herzog would grant Netanyahu a pardon. Trump has made this request publicly from the Knesset podium and also in a personal letter, arguing that major strategic changes underway in the Middle East require such a step.
