Netanyahu to meet Trump in talks seeking to ease tensions 

Washington — 

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will visit former U.S. President Donald Trump at Trump’s Florida resort on Friday, a meeting that could ease recent tensions between leaders who forged a close alliance during Trump’s years in the White House.

Netanyahu’s visit to Trump, the Republican nominee in the 2024 U.S. presidential race, comes a day after meetings in Washington with Democratic President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris, who is running against Trump.

The long-time Israeli leader rearranged the travel schedule for his U.S. visit to go to Florida for a session with Trump.

Opinion polls put Harris and Trump in a close race for the White House, leaving world leaders like Netanyahu, traditionally more closely aligned with Trump’s Republicans than Biden’s Democrats, striking a balance in dealings with the United States.

In her meeting with Netanyahu, Harris sharply pressed the Israeli leader about the humanitarian situation in Gaza in “frank” talks that were watched for signs of how she might shift American policy about Israel if she becomes president.

“I made clear my serious concern about the dire humanitarian situation there,” Harris said in remarks after the meeting. “I will not be silent.”

In an interview with Fox News on Thursday, Trump called for a quick end to Israel’s war with Hamas and a return of the hostages, adding that Israel has to better manage its “public relations.”

“I want him [Netanyahu] to finish up and get it done quickly,” Trump said. “They are getting decimated with this publicity.”

Trump also criticized those who protested Netanyahu’s speech to Congress on Wednesday.

Netanyahu’s speech was boycotted by dozens of Democrats who expressed dismay over the thousands of civilian deaths and the humanitarian crisis from Israel’s campaign in the Hamas-ruled Palestinian enclave of Gaza.

Defiant remarks

In defiant remarks, Netanyahu defended the military and dismissed criticism of Israel’s campaign, which has devastated Gaza and killed more than 39,000 of its residents, according to Gaza health officials.

Netanyahu praised Biden’s support for Israel.

But to cheers from Republicans, he touched on Trump’s pro-Israel record as president. He praised Trump’s decision to move the U.S. embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, a long-held goal of conservatives that infuriated Palestinians.

He also cited the Abraham Accords, landmark U.S.-brokered agreements signed during the Trump years that normalized bilateral relations between Israel and both Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates.

The meeting between the Trump and Netanyahu signaled that both are looking to ease tensions that have developed since Trump left office in January 2021.

The Israeli leader angered Trump when he congratulated Biden on his victory over Trump in the 2020 election. Trump has falsely claimed the election was stolen from him by voter fraud.

Trump more recently criticized Netanyahu for security failures around the deadly Oct. 7 Hamas attack on Israel that prompted the war on Gaza.

Local police told a press conference on Thursday that Netanyahu would arrive in Palm Beach, Florida, around 11 a.m. EDT on Friday and stay for two to three hours before returning to the airport, WPTV television reported.

Palm Beach County Sheriff Ric Bradshaw encouraged peaceful protests but said he did not expect demonstrations on the scale of what happened in Washington this week, when thousands of activists marched — vandalizing some landmarks and confronting police — to protest the war in Gaza.

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