Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu to meet with President Trump in Florida

The Israeli Prime Minister will meet President Trump in Florida Monday, with talks expected to focus on the next phases of the peace plan for Gaza.

MICHEL MARTIN, HOST:

There is a lot left to do on President Trump's 20-point plan to end the war in Gaza.

LEILA FADEL, HOST:

Yeah. He still needs to appoint what he's calling a Board of Peace and get an international force up and running. And there are still pretty regular and fatal attacks in Gaza. But Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is visiting Trump in Florida today and trying to get him focused on some other things, like Iran and its proxies.

MARTIN: NPR's Michele Kelemen is with us now from Jerusalem to talk through Netanyahu's pitch to Trump today. Hi, Michele.

MICHELE KELEMEN, BYLINE: Hi, Michel.

MARTIN: So first, would you just remind us of where things are at the moment with the Gaza peace plan?

KELEMEN: Yeah, they're in Stage 1 - the shaky ceasefire and getting more aid in. Israel has set up what it calls a yellow line, so it controls a large part of Gaza and it does strike across that yellow line when it sees threats. Now, the deal was that they would go to Phase 2 once all the Israeli hostages are out, but there is still the body of one Israeli police officer who was killed in the October 7 attack. Hamas says the people who knew where that body was have since been killed. The Israelis say they don't think Trump should move forward until the body is returned and Hamas agrees to disarm. So that's where things are kind of stuck for the moment.

MARTIN: What does Netanyahu want out of this meeting with President Trump?

KELEMEN: Well, Israeli officials say that there's no signs that Hamas is ready to disarm. So that's one thing they want, is to keep the pressure on Hamas to keep its end of the bargain. The same is true in Lebanon, where Hezbollah remains a threat. And then there's Iran. You remember that President Trump ordered massive strikes on Iran's nuclear facilities this year. Well, the Israelis now say that Iran is building up its ballistic missile stockpile. So Netanyahu wants to keep Trump on his side on all three of these fronts.

MARTIN: Are we expecting any announcements today from President Trump?

KELEMEN: Well, one thing to watch is whether he's going to announce his Board of Peace or any of the steps toward getting an international force into Gaza. One Israeli analyst, who was a national security adviser under previous prime ministers, Eyal Hulata, says that, you know, Trump's approach has been, in the past, announce big things before they're a reality.

EYAL HULATA: Trump foresees what needs to be done and then declares that it has been done, and then things happen. We got all the hostages out in this way. So, you know, sometimes we were a bit critical and cynical about this, but so far, it has done the trick in Gaza. Maybe it will do in the future.

KELEMEN: So we'll see if it can do that trick again. The Israelis are also very conscious of the criticism they're facing from parts of Trump's MAGA movement. So that's something else that's driving Netanyahu to speak directly to Trump today. He needs this relationship for his own domestic purposes.

MARTIN: One more quick question for you. Israel just recognized Somaliland as a country. Would you just tell us about the region and why Israel made this move?

KELEMEN: Yeah. I mean, the Israelis say that that's a stable Muslim region that's been autonomous for more than 30 years. It's a strategic place, if you look at threats coming from Yemen. Now, a lot of countries in the Arab world, though, are worried about something else, that the Israelis may be looking for a place to send Palestinians from Gaza. Somaliland and Israel are downplaying that, but Somalia and 20 other countries are protesting Israel's recognition, and this is going to be a topic for an emergency Security Council meeting later today. Somalia is on the Security Council and taking over the presidency in January.

MARTIN: That is NPR's Michele Kelemen from Jerusalem. Michele, thank you.

KELEMEN: Thank you.

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