Trump, Netanyahu meet amid political and personal tensions

During Friday’s session at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago Club in Palm Beach, Fla., they downplayed past antagonisms. “It was never bad,” Trump insisted when asked by reporters about the rift. “We’ve always had a very good relationship.” He added: “I was very good to Israel, better than any president’s ever been.”

Afterward, Netanyahu posted multiple photos of the pair on his X account.

During their meeting, Netanyahu thanked Trump for work on matters important to Israel during his presidential term, and Trump promised to “make every effort” to bring peace to the Middle East and combat antisemitism on American college campuses, according to a brief summary provided by the Trump campaign.

Trump also took the opportunity to attack his likely November opponent, Vice President Harris, calling her a “radical left person” who “destroyed San Francisco” in remarks recorded by his campaign and later posted on X. He also called comments she made regarding Israel “disrespectful,” but did not specify which comments.

Trump said he didn’t understand why Jewish voters would support Harris. “But that’s up to them,” he added.

The meeting was the latest stop on a whirlwind trip for the Israeli leader, who addressed a joint meeting of Congress on Wednesday and met with President Biden and Harris on Thursday.

In her meeting with Netanyahu, Harris implored him to accept a cease-fire deal that would pause the fighting in Gaza and release hostages. U.S. leaders say they are closer than ever to an agreement, but finalizing it has remained elusive.

“Let’s get the deal done so we can get a cease-fire to end the war,” Harris told reporters after the White House meeting. She also called for the hostages being held by Hamas to be released and for “much-needed relief to the Palestinian people.”

The Biden administration has been a steadfast supporter of Israel since the conflict began with a deadly terrorist attack by Hamas on Israel on Oct. 7. But tensions have increased during the ensuing war as Palestinian casualties mounted and as the United States pressed for a deal that has yet to be finalized. Harris’s remarks appeared aimed at adding pressure on Israel and Hamas to close the remaining gaps.

Trump, too, seems eager for the war to end and has focused his public criticism on the Israeli leader’s public relations management of the conflict.

On “Fox & Friends” on Thursday, Trump said that Israel is getting “decimated” by bad publicity over its war with Gaza and that he wants Netanyahu “to finish up and get it done quickly.”

“You got to get it done quickly because they are getting decimated with this publicity,” Trump said. “And, you know, Israel is not very good at public relations.”

Trump marveled that some “Jewish people out there wearing yarmulkes” are pro-Palestinian.

“Israel has to handle their public relations. Their public relations are not good,” Trump said. “And they have got to get this done fast, because the world — the world is not taking lightly to it.”

On this trip, Netanyahu has been forced to walk a delicate political balancing act, having landed just as Biden dropped out of the presidential race, Harris secured the support needed to win the nomination, and the general election began in earnest.

Israeli officials note that he needs strong relations with the Biden administration — which no matter what will remain in office for the next six months. But he also wants to smooth things over with Trump, both for his own politics back home and in case Trump returns to the White House.

The prime minister’s conservative base and his most extremist coalition partners openly pine for a Trump victory. They recall his time in office as a golden era for Israel’s right wing: Trump brushed aside many of Washington’s neutral positions, moving the U.S. Embassy to Jerusalem, okaying the annexation of the Golan Heights and declaring that West Bank settlements should not be considered illegal as a matter of policy.

Trump also helped usher in the 2020 Abraham Accords, a set of treaties that normalized relations between Israel and four Arab states: the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Sudan and Morocco.

Trump would be more likely to allow Israel a freer hand with the Gaza war and whatever political and security arrangements follow it, say members of Netanyahu’s conservative base.

Public Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir explicitly endorsed Trump on Wednesday, saying he would not hamper Israel’s war fighting as Biden has. Earlier this month, Ben Gvir beseeched his colleagues to scuttle the U.S.-backed cease-fire deal now being negotiated in Cairo because it would be a “victory” for Biden and a “slap” for Trump.

The prime minister is far more diplomatic, asserting repeatedly that Israel will work closely with whoever becomes president. But Netanyahu has increasingly tied himself to the Republican Party, and he ran multiple election campaigns touting his closeness to Trump.

Their relationship fractured at the end of Trump’s term, however, and Trump has told reporters that he blames Netanyahu for pulling Israel out of a 2020 raid in Iran that killed top commander Qasem Soleimani. Trump said that he never thought the prime minister seemed genuinely interested in seeking peace and heaped praise on Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas. “F— him,” Trump said in a 2021 interview, referring to Netanyahu.

His anger hadn’t faded by April, when he told Time he thought Netanyahu deserved blame for allowing the Hamas attacks of Oct. 7 to occur. “I had a very bad experience with Bibi,” he said.