President Trump invited Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to visit the White House in the “near future” during a call on Monday, according to a statement from Netanyahu’s office.
If Netanyahu makes the trip, it would mark his fifth White House visit since Trump came into office for his second term less than one year ago.
Trump has been extremely supportive of the Israeli leader, who is wanted by the International Criminal Court (ICC) for his role in war crimes in Gaza, and has gone as far as formally requesting a “full pardon” for Netanyahu in his corruption case, something that Netanyahu asked for over the weekend.
According to Netanyahu’s office, during their call on Monday, Trump and Netanyahu “stressed the importance and obligation of disarming Hamas and demilitarizing the Gaza Strip, and discussed expanding the peace agreements.” Israel has continued to violate the Trump-backed Gaza ceasefire deal, killing more than 350 Palestinians since it went into effect.
The call came after President Trump called on Israel to pursue dialogue with Syria after its recent military action in the country, which included a deadly raid that killed 15 people.
“It is very important that Israel maintain a strong and true dialogue with Syria, and that nothing takes place that will interfere with Syria’s evolution into a prosperous State,” Trump wrote on Truth Social.
Trump has been very supportive of Syria’s new president, Ahmed al-Sharaa, a former al-Qaeda commander who went by the name Abu Mohammad al-Julani and took power in Damascus along with his group of jihadists, known as Hayat Tahrir al-Sham. “The new President of Syria, Ahmed al-Sharaa, is working diligently to make sure good things happen, and that both Syria and Israel will have a long and prosperous relationship together,” Trump said.
While Israel celebrated and aided in the regime change effort that ousted former Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, it also used the HTS takeover to justify invading southwestern Syria and continuing its occupation of the territory it has captured. But HTS has not launched any attacks on Israel or Israeli troops, and has said it doesn’t plan to respond to the deadly Israeli raid that killed 15 Syrians.
