“I’ve said it. I don’t know why Israel ever gave it up. Israel owned it. It wasn’t this man,” Trump said, as he reached out to affectionately pat Netanyahu on the arm. [Getty]
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu made his second visit to Washington in the first 10 weeks of Trump‘s second term, highlighting the unusually close relationship between the two countries, particularly the two far-right leaders.
In repeating a shocking theme from their last meeting, Trump didn’t hold back when he repeatedly said that Israel should have never “given up” Gaza in its land-for-peace deal. He suggested a post-war plan of beachside resorts administered by the US that goes even further than Netanyahu’s idea of ‘temporarily relocating’ Palestinians while the enclave is reconstructed.
This time, the idea was no longer shocking enough to warrant international outrage. Instead, most of the news reports focused on tariffs and Iran.
On the agenda was Netanyahu’s determination to reverse Trump‘s newly imposed tariffs, and discussions on Iran’s nuclear ambitions, Gaza, and Syria.
“I would say that I’m by far the best president that Israel has ever even thought of seeing,” Trump said to Netanyahu as he opened the meeting, setting the tone for a nearly hour-long discussion in which Trump touted US support for Israel with little need for his guest to comment.
“You’ve been a remarkable friend of the state of Israel. You stand by us, you’re standing with us, you’re standing with us,” said Netanyahu in some of the few remarks he made in the meeting in which Trump essentially gave a lengthy monologue. Before handing over the discussion to Trump, he promised to eliminate the trade deficit with the US and encouraged other countries to do the same.
Trump said that he would be meeting with the Iranians on Saturday and dealing with them directly, possibly a major step following years of cautious indirect talks.
“Maybe a deal is going to be made. That would be great,” Trump told reporters.
Trump then talked at length about his efforts to get other countries to pay what he sees as their fair share in trade deals.
He then moved on to talking about Israel, prompted by a question by a reporter, asking if he would reverse his newly imposed tariffs.
“Don’t forget, we help Israel a lot. You know, we give Israel $4 billion a year. That’s a lot,” Trump said. Then, turning to Netanyahu, he said, “Congratulations, by the way.” The room filled with laughter. “But we give Israel billions of dollars a year. Billions. We give a lot of countries money.”
In response to a reporter’s question about humanitarian aid being blocked from Gaza, he responded, “You know how I feel about the Gaza Strip. I think it’s an incredible piece of important real estate, and I think it’s something that we would be involved in, but having a peace force like the United States there controlling and owning the Gaza Strip would be a good thing.”
Instead of killing, he suggested, “If you take the Palestinians and move them around to different countries, and you have plenty of countries that will do that, and you really have a freedom zone, you call it a freedom zone. A free zone where people aren’t going to be killed every day. That’s a hell of a place.” He said this as he moved his hands together and back, as if to estimate the size of his plan.
“You know what I call it? A great location that nobody wants to live in. Because they really don’t,” he said.
“I’ve said it. I don’t know why Israel ever gave it up. Israel owned it. It wasn’t this man,” Trump said, as he reached out to affectionately pat Netanyahu on the arm. “He wouldn’t have given it up. I know him very well. There’s no way.”
“They took oceanfront property, and they gave it to people for peace. How did that work out? Not good,” Trump added.
He then invited Netanyahu to answer a reporter’s question about an “immigration plan” to relocate Palestinians from Gaza. His answer seemed to differ from Trump‘s plan for beachfront development, suggesting that Palestinians in Gaza would return after a period of post-war reconstruction.
“What is wrong with giving people a choice?” Netanyahu asked, saying they had been talking with countries that could take in Palestinians from Gaza. “I think this is the right thing to do. It’s gonna take years to rebuild Gaza. In the meantime, people can have an option. The president has a vision.”
Trump again emphasised, “It should have never ever been given away. It shouldn’t have been given away by Israel. I don’t know why they did it.” He then suggested that Israel (under other leadership than Netanyahu) had been tricked into a land-for-peace-deal.
“Netanyahu really played Trump quite well, and Trump did everything to kiss up to him,” David Frank, a professor of rhetoric and political communication at the University of Oregon, told The New Arab.
“He was effective at doing that because he really understands American culture. He’s intuitively able to speak to the ego of Trump. The fact that he let Trump talk [as much as he did] was an indication of his savviness,” the professor added.
