Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu left on Sunday for Washington, where he was to meet later this week with US President Donald Trump, declaring before boarding his flight according to which cooperation with the new administration could restart the Middle East .
Netanyahu declared that its meetings in the American capital “will deal with important and critical problems to which Israel and the region – victory over Hamas, reach the release of all our hostages and dealing with the Iranian terrorist axis in all its components, An axis that threatens the peace of Israel, the Middle East and the whole world. »»
Speaking in English before embarking on the plane, he said that the fact that he is the first foreign leader to meet Trump in the White House since the inauguration of the latter is “a testimony of the force of The Israeli-American alliance. It is also a testimony to the strength of our personal friendship. »»
“The decisions we made during the war have already changed the face of the Middle East,” said Netanyahu alongside the official state plane, Wing of Sion, who took him to Washington. “Our decisions and the courage of our soldiers restarted the card. But I believe that working in close collaboration with President Trump, we can redraw it even more and for the best. »»
“I believe that we can strengthen security, expand the circle of peace and reach an era of peace remarkable by force,” he said.

US President Donald Trump speaks to journalists as he signs decrees in the Oval Blanche office on January 31, 2025 in Washington. (AP photo / Evan VUCCI)
Netanyahu apparently referred to links with Saudi Arabia. Israel put pressure on the creation of a negotiation team to organize interviews on official relations with the Gulf State, reported on Saturday the Kan public broadcaster, adding that the Trump administration wanted to achieve peace between Jerusalem and Riyadh in The framework of the American president’s vision for a “golden age of peace in the Middle East.”
This decision would broaden the Abraham agreements, through which Israel has established relations with the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Morocco during the first mandate of Trump. Saudi Arabia has not joined the 2020 agreements and has never recognized Israel.
Standardization with Saudi Arabia has been almost interrupted due to the war in Gaza as well as Riyadic requests that Israel establishes a diplomatic horizon for a future Palestinian state.
However, Trump said before his return to the White House last month that he hoped to use the momentum of the Gaza ceasefire agreement to extend the Abraham agreements to include Saudi Arabia.
US SPECIAL sent for the Middle East Steve Witkoff said that Qatar, which, with the United States and Egypt, was mediating the ceasefire in Gaza, is also a candidate for normalization.

From left to right, Bahrain Foreign Minister Khalid Bin Ahmed Al Khalifa, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, then President of the United States, Donald Trump, and the United States Minister of Foreign Affairs, Abdullah bin Zayed al-Nahyan, are at the signing ceremony of the Abraham agreements on the southern medal of the white house medallion, in Washington, September 15, 2020. (AP photo / Alex Brandon, file)
Netanyahu’s visit arrives at a critical moment in a complex and three-phase ceasefire with Hamas who interrupted war in the Gaza Strip that the Palestinian terrorist group began in October 2023 and it was to see the Liberation Of all the hostages held by terrorist groups in group the coastal enclave.
The new Trump administration was involved in media negotiations for the ceasefire even before the president was inaugurated earlier this month, and it is impatient to see the finished plan. Netanyahu, however, faces the pressure of the far -right flank of his coalition to restart the fighting after the completion of the first six -week stage of the agreement. In the words of the ceasefire, discussions on the second stage should start this week, but Netanyahu seems to keep his options open until he met Trump on Tuesday.
While the Prime Minister was leaving for Washington, the Minister of Finance, Bezalel Smotrich, called him to “strengthen our grip and sovereignty” on the West Bank, while describing Trump as “a lover of Israel”. The Palestinians want the West Bank, which is controlled by Israel and includes some 140 Israeli colonies, within the framework of a future state.
“Many is at stake – a complete victory in Gaza, the destruction of Hamas and the return of all our hostages, strengthening our security at all borders – in Syria, Lebanon, and of course against the chief of the octopus, the diet Iranian and nuclear threat. This danger must be deleted, “said Smotrich on a video message for Netanyahu on Sunday.
“We must strengthen our grip and sovereignty over the fatherland in Judea and Samaria,” he said, using the biblical name for the West Bank.
Smotrich has threatened to bolt the government if the war is not restarted, while his far -right colleague Otzma Yehudit has already left the coalition to protest the agreement. Without the Smotrich Zionism of Zionism, the government would lose its majority at the Knesset.

The Minister of Finance Bezalel Smotrich heads a religious faction meeting of Zionism at the Knesset in Jerusalem, January 27, 2025. (Chaim Goldberg / Flash90)
According to a position of strength, Israel “makes peace, forges alliances and strengthens its position,” continued Smotrich.
Benny Gantz, the leader of the National Party of Opposition Unity, also wished Netanyahu’s success during his trip, declaring that it is essential for the future of Israel.
“The meeting with President Trump is of capital importance to advance the return of all our hostages, coordinate the response to the Iranian challenge, widen the circle of standardization and remove the rule of Hamas,” Tweeted Gantz.
The Minister of Strategic Affairs, Ron Dermer, accompanied Netanyahu to Washington, as well as the government coordinator in hostage Gal Hirsch. Also on the plane was Dr. Eyal Heller, senior cardiologist at Sheba Medical Center. Netanyahu, who has a history of heart problems, was equipped with a cardiac stimulator in the hospital in 2023.
There was no statement from the Netanyahu office on the reasons why Heller was traveling, but that can indicate the desire to keep a careful eye on the health of the Prime Minister, especially after having undergone a prostate operation at the end of December .

United States Special Envive to the Middle East Steve Witkoff at Organing Square in Tel Aviv, January 30, 2025. (Yonatan Sindel / Flash90)
The day before his seated with Trump, Netanyahu must hold a meeting with the envoy Witkoff, to launch talks on the second stage of the hostage liberation agreement with Hamas, which should start that day, announced on Saturday Prime Minister’s office. Witkoff was deeply involved in ceasefire negotiations even before Trump’s inauguration on January 20.
The reports, however, indicated that Netanyahu seriously entered the possibility of resuming war after the first phase of the agreement, as requested by the far -right members of his power coalition, rather than continuing in the second phase.
In addition to the information according to which Netanyahu had canceled a meeting with the best Israeli negotiators, Channel 12 reported on Saturday evening that the Prime Minister was planning to appoint dermer as head of the Israel negotiation team for the other hostage talks With Hamas. He would take charge of the role of the chief of Mossad Barnea.
According to the report, Barnea remains in the team alongside Bar and Alon, while Dermer would supervise the talks. The report said Witkoff expressed that he would prefer to work with Dermer and reserves to work with the current negotiation team.
The PMO denied the reports.

The Minister of Strategic Affairs, Ron Dermer, is addressed to the Knesset on January 22, 2025. (Office of the spokesperson for Noam Moskowitz / Knesset)
Until now, 13 Israeli hostages have been released as part of the agreement, which imposes the release of 33 so-called “humanitarian hostages” during its first 42-day phase, with battles stopped in the band. Five Thai hostages were also released outside the agreement.
The subsequent stages of the three -phase agreement are subject to negotiations with the declared objective of achieving “sustainable calm” in the enclave, in parallel with the release of the remaining hostages held in Gaza, the release of Palestinian security prisoners and an Israeli withdrawal from the band.
The hostages are among the 251 people kidnapped on October 7, 2023, when some 3,000 terrorists led by Hamas burst into Israel, killing some 1,200 people, in the midst of creeping acts of brutality and manifest targeting of civilians.
Sixty-six of the 251 hostages removed by Hamas on October 7 remain in Gaza, including the bodies of at least 34 dead confirmed by the FDI.