Netanyahu seeks firm backing from US during key visit

Netanyahu seeks firm backing from US during key visit

WASHINGTON
Netanyahu seeks firm backing from US during key visit

U.S. President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu met on Tuesday as the latter faces competing pressure from his right-wing coalition to end a temporary truce against Hamas in Gaza and from war-weary Israelis who want the remaining hostages home and the 15-month conflict to end.

Netanyahu will remain in Washington until Feb. 7 night, extending an earlier plan due to “the many requests for meetings from U.S. officials,” his offica said.

He was originally slated to head back to Israel on Feb. 6.

Trump is guarded about the long-term prospects for the truce, even as he takes credit for pressuring Hamas and Israel into the hostage and ceasefire agreement that went into effect the day before he returned to office last month.

“I have no guarantees that the peace is going to hold," Trump told reporters on Feb. 3.

The leaders' talks are expected to touch on a long-sought Israel-Saudi Arabia normalization deal and concerns about Iran's nuclear program, but hammering out the second phase of the hostage deal will be at the top of the agenda.

Netanyahu's arrival in Washington for the first foreign leader visit of Trump's second term comes as the prime minister's popular support is lagging. Netanyahu is in the middle of weekslong testimony in an ongoing corruption trial that centers on allegations he exchanged favors with media moguls and wealthy associates. He has decried the accusations and said he is the victim of a “witch hunt.”

It's Netanyahu's first travel outside Israel since the International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants in November for him, his former defense minister and Hamas’ slain military chief, accusing them of crimes against humanity during the war in Gaza. The U.S. does not recognize the ICC's authority over its citizens or territory.

Netanyahu and Trump's Mideast envoy Steve Witkoff on Feb. 3 began the daunting work of brokering the next phase of a ceasefire agreement.

Netanyahu said in statement that the meeting with Witkoff and U.S. National Security Adviser Michael Waltz was “positive and friendly.”

The Israeli leader said he would send a delegation to Qatar to continue indirect talks with Hamas that are being mediated by the Gulf Arab country, the first confirmation that those negotiations would continue.

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