Former President Donald Trump reportedly told Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that if he wins a second term Israel’s war in Gaza needs to be finished by the time he takes office in January, The Times of Israel (TOI) reported.
Israel went to war with Hamas on Oct. 7, 2023, and the ensuing conflict has left the terrorist group crippled and swaths of the Gaza enclave in ruins. Trump has been a vocal supporter of Israel’s efforts to wipe out Hamas, but has expressed that he wants the war to end in short order, telling Netanyahu in July that it needs to be over by the start of 2025, two sources with direct knowledge of the matter told TOI.
The message was relayed to Netanyahu during the prime minister’s visit to Trump’s Florida Mar-a-Lago resort, the sources told TOI. While Netanyahu’s trip to Mar-a-Lago was widely reported on at the time, this is the first occasion it has been reported that Trump said this during the visit.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is currently meeting with former US President Donald Trump in Mar-a-Lago, Florida. pic.twitter.com/uoEXwCecLf
— Prime Minister of Israel (@IsraeliPM) July 26, 2024
Trump didn’t go into specifics with Netanyahu about his request, so it’s possible he would support “residual” Israeli military activity in Gaza, a former U.S. official told TOI. Trump also wants Israel to secure the release of the remaining hostages in Gaza — some of which are American citizens — before he takes office in January.
Relations between Trump and Netanyahu were icy after Trump lost the 2020 election. Netanyahu congratulated President Joe Biden following that election in a video message, angering Trump. Trump also felt at the time Netanyahu wasn’t serious about resolving tensions between the Israelis and the Palestinians.
But the two have seemingly mended relations this year. They have spoken on several occasions since Netanyahu’s visit to Mar-a-Lago in July. Netanyahu has said that Trump had called him two days in a row recently.
However, Trump has said on multiple occasions that Israel’s war in Gaza needs to end quickly because it has devasted the enclave and the Palestinian population living there, raising concerns among Israeli officials, two Israeli officials told TOI earlier this month. While Israel’s military operations in Gaza have largely ended, the government doesn’t yet seem comfortable with withdrawing entirely — especially given concerns that Hamas or the Palestinian Authority, widely seen as a corrupt governing body, will fill the power vacuum.
Despite Trump’s wishes, there are some hardliners in Netanyahu’s orbit who have threatened to oust the prime minister from power if he ends the war.
“A fight with Trump is something he hasn’t really had to deal with, and I think it’s something he’d want to avoid, but [Finance Minister Bezalel] Smotrich and [National Security Minister Itamar] Ben Gvir may not let him,” a Knesset member told TOI.
The Trump campaign did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
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