A day after meeting Zelenskyy, US President Donald Trump met Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida. The meeting came at a busy moment, with Trump pushing forward his plans for the next phase of a ceasefire in Gaza as the year draws to a close.
As Netanyahu arrived, Trump told reporters that he wants to move ahead with the second phase of the Gaza plan “as quickly as we can.” Here are all the key points discussed.
Netanyahu says Trump will get Israel’s highest peace Honour
During a joint press conference, Netanyahu said Trump will receive the Israel Prize for Peace, marking the first time the country’s highest civilian award will be given to a non-Israeli. Netanyahu said the decision shows how Israelis across the political spectrum feel about Trump’s support for Israel. He said Trump has “broken many conventions,” so Israel decided to break one too.
A senior Israeli official later told CNN that Israel’s Education Minister Yoav Kisch joined the Trump-Netanyahu meeting by phone to personally inform Trump about the award. Trump also indicated that he would seriously consider attending the ceremony.
Trump says Israel has followed the Gaza plan fully
Standing next to Netanyahu, Trump said he is “not concerned” about Israel’s actions, including how quickly it is moving toward the second phase of the Gaza peace plan. He told reporters that Israel has lived up to the agreement “100%” and praised the country for being strong and committed to the plan.
The US has been urging Israel to move faster into the next phase. However, Israel has said it does not want to pull back further from Gaza unless Hamas agrees to disarm. The second phase of the plan includes Hamas laying down its weapons, the start of rebuilding Gaza and setting up a system of governance once the war ends.
Trump warns Hamas on disarmament
When asked whether he and Netanyahu had discussed Israel pulling back its troops before Hamas fully disarms, Trump made his position clear. He said Hamas had agreed to disarm and must do so quickly. If it does not, he warned, there would be serious consequences. “They agreed to it,” Trump said. “If they don’t disarm within a fairly short period of time, there’ll be hell to pay, and we don’t want that.” He described the issue of Israeli troop withdrawal as a separate matter and said only that it would be discussed later.
On the other hand, Trump said he had no concerns about Israel’s actions. “I’m not concerned about anything that Israel is doing,” Trump told reporters. “Israel has lived up to the plan, 100%.” Trump repeated several times that the situation would turn “really, really bad” for Hamas if it failed to disarm as promised. He said Israel could not be blamed if Hamas broke its word.
Netanyahu, for his part, praised Trump and called their meeting “very, very productive.” He thanked Trump for his support and said the two leaders often discuss ideas openly. He said that while they sometimes have different views, they usually find common ground.
Trump warns Iran over missile activity
Trump also took several shots at Iran during the press conference. He said Iran may be trying to rebuild its weapons program at new sites, different from the ones the US attacked earlier this year.
He warned that if Iran is secretly rebuilding its missile capabilities, there would be “very powerful” consequences. Trump said he does not believe Iran is expanding its nuclear program but added that the country may still be acting irresponsibly.
“I hear that Iran is trying to build up again, and if they are, we’re going to have to knock them down,” Trump said ahead of the meeting. “We’ll knock them down. We’ll knock the hell out of them.”
He said the US is closely watching Iran’s actions and warned that any dangerous buildup would be dealt with ‘immediately’ Trump added that he would support attacking Iran if it tried to rebuild its nuclear capacity, urging Tehran instead to pursue a “deal” with Washington.
“That’s smarter,” Trump said. “They could have made a deal the last time before we went through, you know, a big attack on them.” The US earlier this year bombed three nuclear facilities in Iran.
Trump- Netanyahu meeting: Differences over West Bank remain
Trump described his meeting with Netanyahu as productive but admitted that they do not fully agree on everything. One area of difference is how to handle settler violence in the occupied West Bank.
Trump said the two leaders have had long discussions about the West Bank and that while they do not agree completely, a decision will be made in time.
The West Bank has been under Israeli military occupation since 1967 with more than 3.3 million Palestinians living there. During the Gaza war, the region saw several military operations, more home demolitions and above all rapid expansion of Jewish settlements.
In September, Trump said he would not allow Israel to annex the West Bank, clearing his position among many Western and Arab countries that warn annexation would end hopes for a future Palestinian state.
Earlier in the day, the family of the last Israeli hostage still held in Gaza urged Trump’s top aides not to go ahead with the peace plan until the hostage’s body is returned. During the meeting, Trump again claimed that no hostages were released under former President Joe Biden. This statement is not true.
