Former President Donald J. Trump, who has been eager to demonstrate his ties to Israel as he tries to chip away Jewish Americans from their longstanding allegiance to Democrats, is set to meet with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel on Friday in Palm Beach, Fla.
Mr. Trump and Mr. Netanyahu last met in 2020. Their meeting on Friday in Florida, at Mr. Trump’s private club and residence, Mar-a-Lago, comes as Mr. Trump has for months insisted that Hamas’s deadly terrorist attacks on Israel in October and the ensuing war in Gaza would not have happened if he had won the 2020 election.
Ahead of the meeting, Mr. Trump insisted Israel needed to end the war as quickly as possible. He has not provided a clear plan for how he would help bring the conflict to a close, even as he has criticized the Biden administration for failing to do so. But he has repeatedly suggested he supported Israel using greater force in Gaza.
“You have to end this fast. It can’t continue to go on like this. It’s too long. It’s too much,” Mr. Trump said in an interview on Fox News on Thursday.
At the same time, Mr. Trump — who remains supportive of Israel and often calls himself the strongest ally of the country to serve in the White House — has been critical of Israel since it launched its military effort, taking issue with it sharing footage of the destruction in Gaza.
“Israel has to handle their public relations. Their public relations are not good,” he said on Thursday. “And they’ve got to get this done fast because the world — the world is not taking lightly to it. It’s really incredible.”
The Palm Beach County Sheriff’s office warned of possible protests outside of the Friday meeting, but there was little activity near Mar-a-Lago and security — which has been increased since the assassination attempt against Mr. Trump — was heavy. A handful of people carrying signs, some in support of Israel and others decrying the war, had taken up positions on nearby streets.
Mr. Trump and Mr. Netanyahu had close ties during Mr. Trump’s presidency, but their relationship was strained after Mr. Netanyahu congratulated Mr. Biden on winning the 2020 presidential election, which Mr. Trump continues to falsely insist he won.
Days after Hamas’s deadly attack on Israel in October, Mr. Trump criticized Mr. Netanyahu and Israeli intelligence officials as being poorly prepared. Since then, he has retreated from those criticisms. And he thanked Mr. Netanyahu for mentioning him in his address to Congress on Wednesday.
Mr. Netanyahu joins a handful of global leaders who have met with Mr. Trump during his third presidential campaign. Mr. Trump has met twice with Prime Minister Viktor Orban of Hungary, a right-wing leader with whom he shares anti-immigration and populist views. While standing trial in Manhattan in April, Mr. Trump hosted the right-wing president of Poland, Andrzej Duda, at Trump Tower.
Mr. Trump posted this week on Truth Social a letter he received from Mahmoud Abbas, the Palestinian Authority president, after the assassination attempt against him at a Pennsylvania rally this month.
Mr. Abbas, writing the day after the shooting, said that he had “grave concern” after seeing footage of the incident, adding that he believed “differences must be resolved through communication” rather than violence.
In his post sharing the letter, Mr. Trump wrote “Looking forward to seeing Bibi Netanyahu on Friday, and even more forward to achieving Peace in the Middle East!”
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