Andrew Roth
The Guardian / January 29, 2025
President makes major concession to Israeli PM, US ally who is wanted by the International Criminal Court (ICC) for war crimes
Donald Trump has invited Benjamin Netanyahu to be the first foreign leader to visit the White House, in a major concession to a US ally who is wanted by the international criminal court for war crimes.
The invitation was made in a letter from the US president, which invited the Israeli prime minister to come to the White House on 4 February to “discuss how we can bring peace to Israel and its neighbours, and efforts to counter our shared adversaries”.
“It will be my honour to host you as my first foreign leader during my second term,” the letter read.
Trump has said he is “not confident” that the ceasefire in Gaza will hold. Under the terms of the ceasefire, Israel and Hamas should soon commence negotiating a longer-term peace that many fear will fail and lead to a return to bloodshed following more than 15 months of fighting.
Trump and Netanyahu have had a difficult personal relationship, but Israel remains the US’s closest ally in the region. Steve Witkoff, Trump’s Middle East envoy, is said to have had a tense conversation with Netanyahu in the days before a hostages-for-ceasefire deal was negotiated between Hamas and Israel, on the day before Trump’s inauguration.
Since then, Trump has lifted a ban on supplying Israel with 2,000lb bombs that had been held back by the Biden administration in opposition to Israel’s overwhelming use of force against Gaza.
Trump late last week suggested that the Gaza Strip could be “just cleaned out” and that more than 1.5 million people be sent to other Arab countries, in offhand remarks that appeared to reflect plans for an ethnic cleansing of the region.
Netanyahu has been accused by the ICC of bearing responsibility for targeting civilian populations and using “starvation as a method of warfare” during the Israeli military’s campaign in Gaza, which followed the 7 October raid by Hamas that killed roughly 1,200 Israelis and saw hundreds more taken hostage.
More than 120 member countries of the ICC should arrest Netanyahu if he sets foot on their territory, including most of Europe. The United States is not a party to the agreement and Republicans have introduced legislation to sanction the ICC for the warrants against Netanyahu and the former Israeli defense minister, Yoav Gallant. Democrats on Tuesday blocked that legislation.
Andrew Roth is The Guardian’s global affairs correspondent
__________
Netanyahu hopes to meet Trump in Washington as soon as next week, US officials say
Matthew Lee
AP / January 28, 2025
WASHINGTON – Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is hoping to meet with President Donald Trump in Washington as early as next week, according to two U.S. officials familiar with preliminary planning for the trip.
Should the trip come together in that timeframe, Netanyahu could be the first foreign leader to meet with Trump at the White House since his inauguration last week. The officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity because the planning remains tentative, said details could be arranged when Trump’s special Middle East envoy, Steve Witkoff, travels to Israel this week for talks with Netanyahu and other Israeli officials.
Trump teased the upcoming visit in a conversation with reporters aboard Air Force One, but didn’t provide scheduling details. “I’m going to be speaking with Bibi Netanyahu in the not too distant future,” he said.
Netanyahu’s plans were first reported by Axios. Netanyahu’s spokesman, Omer Dostri, said Monday on the social platform X that the Israeli leader has not yet received an official invitation to the White House.
An Israeli official, however, said Netanyahu is expected to go to the White House in February but did not have a date. That official spoke on condition of anonymity pending an official announcement.
Witkoff told an audience at the ceremonial opening of a New York City synagogue on Sunday that he would be traveling to Israel on Wednesday to keep focusing on the ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas.
“We have to implement the agreement in a correct way,” he said. “The execution of the agreement was important. It was the first step, but without the implementation correct, we’re not going to get it right — we’re going to have a flare-up, and that’s not a good thing. So, we’re going to watch it.”
The U.S. officials said Witkoff is particularly interested in advancing the implementation and the release of Americans and others still held hostage by Hamas as well as shoring up the fragile ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah in Lebanon.
AP reporters Tia Goldenberg in Tel Aviv, Israel, Will Weissert in Washington and Jennifer Peltz in New York City contributed to this report