Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said at a press conference on Wednesday that President Trump had assured him that the US was committed to Israel despite a slew of media reports that have said there’s friction between the two leaders.
“Let me give you some details that perhaps haven’t been made public. A few days ago — I think around 10 days ago, maybe a little more — I spoke on the phone with President Trump,” Netanyahu said, according to The Times of Israel.
“And he said to me, literally: ‘Bibi, I want you to know — I have absolute commitment to you. I have absolute commitment to the State of Israel,'” the Israeli leader added.
Netanyahu said he also spoke with Vice President JD Vance. “[Vance] said to me… ‘Listen, don’t pay attention to all these fake news spins about this rupture between us… He said: It’s all spin. This isn’t the truth, you know it’s not true, and I’m telling you, from our side, it’s not true,” the Israeli leader said.
Axios recently reported that Vance canceled a trip to Israel because he didn’t want it to appear that the Trump administration approved Israel’s major escalation in Gaza, although Vance denied the report and said he didn’t travel to Israel for “logistical” reasons.
“We’re coordinated with the [Trump] administration,” Netanyahu said. “We speak with each other. We respect their interests, and they respect ours — and they overlap. I won’t tell you they align completely — obviously not — but they align almost completely.”
The Trump administration has taken several steps in the region that appeared to go against Israel’s interests, including the ceasefire with Yemen’s Houthis and talks with Hamas. But there’s been no sign that the administration is willing to leverage military aid to force Netanyahu to end the genocidal war on Gaza, which continues to escalate.
Netanyahu also said on Wednesday that Israel wants to ensure “Trump’s plan” for Gaza is achieved, referring to the president’s calls for the permanent removal of the Palestinian population as part of a plan for the US to take over the territory. The Israeli leader has now listed the ethnic cleansing plan as a condition to end the war.
