Prime Minister Netanyahu kicks off crucial diplomatic week in US
On the schedule: Meetings with President Trump and administration officials, including Ambassador-designate Mike Huckabee
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu begins a pivotal week in Washington, D.C., filled with diplomatic meetings. Netanyahu landed in the U.S. on Sunday afternoon and is expected to meet with U.S. President Donald Trump on Tuesday at 6 p.m. EST – a few hours after the original meeting time, at the request of the White House, per Israeli media reports.
This would be Trump’s first meeting with a foreign leader since his inauguration. Netanyahu stated that this fact was “very telling,” right before his departure to the United States.
“I think it’s a testimony to the strength of the Israeli-American alliance. It’s also a testimony to the strength of our personal friendship,” he said.
While their meeting is expected to mainly focus on Israel’s war against Hamas in Gaza and the delicate ceasefire situation with Hezbollah in Lebanon, the two leaders will also discuss broader issues concerning the Middle East over dinner with their wives on Tuesday evening.
Topics to be discussed include countering Iran’s pursuit of nuclear weapons, Tehran’s destabilizing influence in the region, and the potential expansion of the Abraham Accords through a normalization deal with Saudi Arabia.
Netanyahu will kick off his packed meeting schedule on Monday. On the first official day of his visit, he is set to meet with U.S. Ambassador-designate to Israel Mike Huckabee and Evangelical leaders in a key session.
This is a powerful sign of the important role Huckabee will likely play, as one of Trump’s top pro-Israel picks to serve in his administration. Huckabee has met with the prime minister several times throughout the Gaza War, including one time with ALL-ISRAEL-NEWS Editor-in-Chief Joel Rosenberg in December 2023.
When the appointment was first announced, Rosenberg wrote that it sent a strong message about “Trump’s intention to stand solidly and unwaveringly with Israel – and to reject the failed Middle East policies of Presidents Barack Obama and Joe Biden, of which Huckabee has been a sharp critic.”
It is also evidence of “just how seriously President Trump regards the enormous influence of the tens of millions of Evangelical Christians in the United States who love Israel and the Jewish people,” Rosenberg added.
Also on Monday, Netanyahu is expected to hold two meetings with White House special envoy to the Middle East, Steve Witkoff, to formulate the Israeli position for the next phase of hostage-release negotiations with Hamas.
The second phase involves the opening of the Rafah crossing between Gaza and Egypt and the potential withdrawal of IDF forces from the strategic Philadelphi Corridor in southern Gaza and the Netzarim Corridor, which separates Gaza City from Central Gaza.
The Israeli prime minister will visit the Pentagon on Wednesday, where he will meet with U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth. On Thursday, Netanyahu is expected to hold a series of meetings with congressional leaders, Senate Majority Leader John Thune and House Speaker Mike Johnson.
Johnson’s office announced that the meeting will take place on Thursday in the speaker's suite at the U.S. Capitol.
On Monday morning, Johnson told Fox and Friends, “We need to be supporting Israel right now as strongly as ever. It's a critical time in the Middle East, and they've got a real dilemma on their hands.”
"Everyone in the world needs to know that America stands with Israel, and we will. Hamas can't stay in power," he added.
For his U.S. visit, Netanyahu will be accompanied by his entourage of top aides, which includes Minister of Strategic Affairs Ron Dermer, Diplomatic Advisor Ophir Falk, Chief of Staff Tzachi Braverman, Military Secretary Maj.-Gen. Roman Gofman and government hostage point-man Gal Hirsch.
The latest addition to his staff is Caroline Glick, a prominent Israeli-American conservative publicist and commentator. Glick was appointed as an International Affairs advisor to Netanyahu and began to serve in the role on Sunday, after leaving her position as a senior contributing editor for the Jewish News Syndicate (JNS). She previously wrote columns for Breitbart News and The Jerusalem Post.
I'm very excited to be starting my new position as International Affairs Advisor to Prime Minister @netanyahu.
— Caroline Glick (@CarolineGlick) February 2, 2025
It is an honor and a privilege to be joining the Prime Minister as he leads us heroically through this critical time in the history of our nation and our state. pic.twitter.com/YX7DPaWYnT
“Life takes you in different directions, and I am going back to the office where I worked nearly three decades ago as the prime minister leads Israel through the most difficult period in the history of the Jewish state,” Glick told JNS on Wednesday.
“I take it as a profound compliment that at this critical juncture in our history, Prime Minister Netanyahu has asked me to join him as he continues his historic fight to secure the future of the Jewish state and people.”
Glick has been a critic of Israel’s ceasefire agreement with Hamas. In 2014, she published her book, ‘The Israeli Solution: A One-State Plan for Peace in the Middle East,’ a manifesto making the case for exerting Israeli sovereignty over Judea and Samaria.
Tal Heinrich is a senior correspondent for both ALL ISRAEL NEWS and ALL ARAB NEWS. She is currently based in New York City. Tal also provides reports and analysis for Israeli Hebrew media Channel 14 News.
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