“Sand we win, it will be very simple”declared to journalists, before the meeting, the Republican politician, who is once again a candidate in the presidential elections on November 5th, but leaving a warning in case he is defeated: “We will end up with major wars in the Middle East and perhaps a Third World War.”
For the former White House leader, the world is closer to a global conflict today than “at any time since World War II”.
Trump warmly welcomed the Israeli prime minister to Florida, in the first meeting between the two politicians since 2020, when relations between the two cooled due to Democrat Joe Biden’s electoral victory over the former White House leader.
According to the Associated Press (AP), Trump was waiting on the stone steps outside his Mar-a-Lago mansion in Palm Beach, Florida, to greet the head of the Israeli government, who is on the fifth day of a week-long visit to the United States, with the aim of reinforcing support for the war against the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas in the Gaza Strip.
Speaking to reporters before they sat down for talks, Netanyahu handed Trump a framed photograph that the Israeli leader said showed a child taken by Hamas fighters in the Oct. 7 attack in southern Israel that killed nearly 1,200 people and sparked the current conflict.
“We’ll get on it,” said Trump, who will attempt to return to the White House in November after being defeated in 2020 by Joe Biden and contesting the election results, alleging fraud.
Trump broke off ties with Netanyahu in early 2021 after the Israeli prime minister became one of the first world leaders to congratulate Biden on his victory.
“Bibi [diminutivo do nome do primeiro-ministro de Israel] He could have kept quiet,” Trump said at the time in an interview with an Israeli newspaper, adding: “He made a terrible mistake.”
As president, Trump went far beyond his predecessors in fulfilling Netanyahu’s main wishes on behalf of the United States, such as the transfer of the US embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, a measure strongly criticized by most Western diplomats, by the Palestinian movements and their Arab allies in the region.
For Trump, today’s meeting could strengthen him as an ally and his image as a statesman, as well as intensify Republican efforts to present themselves as the party most loyal to Tel Aviv, while for Netanyahu, restoring relations with the former White House leader is imperative, given the prospect that he could return to power in the country that is Israel’s main arms supplier.
Netanyahu and Trump last met at a major and symbolic White House ceremony in September 2020 to sign a Washington-brokered deal in which the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain agreed to establish diplomatic relations with Israel.
In messages and public statements following his split with Netanyahu, Trump said he had stuck his neck out for Israel as president and received disloyalty from the Israeli leader in return.
He has also criticized Netanyahu more recently, accusing him for example of “not being prepared” for the Hamas attacks on October 7 that started the war in the Gaza Strip.
Today, the Republican returned to his legacy in the White House to say: “No president has done what I have done for Israel”, according to the EFE agency, during what appears to be the end of a lunch, according to a video published on social media.
Netanyahu, in turn, thanked Trump for the work he did to “promote stability in the region through the two Abraham Accords and the move of the United States Embassy in Israel to Jerusalem,” according to the former US President’s campaign.
In a statement after the two politicians began their meeting, Trump’s team said the Republican candidate pledged to “make every effort to bring peace to the Middle East” if elected.
He also promised to combat anti-Semitism on universities, in reference to student protests in the United States about two months ago against the Israeli invasion of the Gaza Strip.
Netanyahu’s trip to Florida follows a fiery speech to a joint session of both houses of Congress on Wednesday and meetings the following day with Biden and his Vice President, Kamala Harris, who announced on Sunday her candidacy for the White House against Trump.
Harris warned Netanyahu that he “will not remain silent” regarding the human suffering in the Gaza Strip and said the time had come to sign an agreement with the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas for a ceasefire in the enclave.
In response, Trump said the vice president’s comments were “disrespectful and not very nice to Israel,” adding that he doesn’t understand how a Jew could vote for her.
In his speech to Congress, Netanyahu called for more weapons from the United States to “accelerate the end of the war” in the Gaza Strip and advocated a demilitarized zone in the enclave with a civilian administration of the enclave in the post-conflict period.
The head of the Israeli government thanked US President Joe Biden for his support against Hamas and for his involvement in the effort to free hostages held by the Palestinian group since its attack on October 7.
He also called for unity from the US ally against an “axis of terror” sponsored by Iran, which he said was destabilising the entire Middle East and also affecting the United States.
In addition to Biden, in his speech to Congress, Netanyahu also praised Trump.
“I want to thank President Trump for everything he has done for Israel,” the Israeli leader said, once again lamenting the “despicable” assassination attempt that targeted the former Republican leader of the White House on July 13.
Protests continued the following day at the White House, while Biden received Netanyahu, in a meeting that, according to the US presidency, served to pressure the Israeli leader to establish a ceasefire agreement with Hamas.
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Source: https://www.noticiasaominuto.com/mundo/2605504/trump-diz-a-netanyahu-que-se-nao-for-eleito-havera-uma-grande-guerra
