Donald Trump dined with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s wife as he reportedly works toward securing an Israel-Hamas ceasefire.
The president-elect and Sara Netanyahu shared a meal at the Trump International Golf Course near his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida on Sunday night, his deputy director of communications shared on X. The two met after Republican Senator Lindsey Graham told Axios the president-elect hopes to broker a ceasefire in the Israel-Hamas conflict before taking office on January 20.
Sara Netanyahu later shared a photo of the meeting on Instagram, noting that the two had a “warm and friendly” dinner, and emphasized the “friendship between Israel and the United States and the importance of continuing to nurture the unique bond between our nations.”
She said she “raised with the president the immense suffering our country has endured” sincethe Hamas attack last year on October 7, and the “inhumanity of the Hamas terrorists, who are holding our abducted citizens under harsh conditions. I emphasized the urgent need to act for their [the hostages’] release and their swift return.”
Graham earlier told Axios that “Trump is more determined than ever to release the hostages and supports a ceasefire” that includes freeing Israeli hostages. “He wants to see it happening now,” said the South Carolina lawmaker.
Israeli officials have praised Trump’s electoral victory.
The prime minister said Trump had made “history’s greatest comeback” last month after he secured a second term in the White House.
“Your historic return to the White House offers a new beginning for America and a powerful recommitment to the great alliance between Israel and America,” Netanyahu said in a statement.
Israel’s far-right finance minister Bezalel Smotrich also said last month that Trump’s win means the “time has come” to annex the West Bank.
The Palestinian Authority, which maintains partial control over the West Bank, called his remark a “blatantly colonial and racist extension of the ongoing campaign of extermination and forced displacement against the Palestinian people.”
Meanwhile, President Joe Biden has also been working to secure a ceasefire deal in the Israel-Hamas conflict. But with no definitive progress to date, it looks as though the matter could be passed to Trump.
The Israel-Hamas conflict began on October 7, 2023, when Hamas militants launched a surprise attack on Israel, killing 1,200 and taking another 250 people hostage. Now, there are 63 hostages believed to be alive in Gaza, The Washington Post reports.
In the last 14 months, more than 44,000 have been killed by Israel’s response in Gaza, the Associated Press reports. More than half of those killed were women and children, the Gaza Health Ministry has said.
The Biden administration brokered an Israel-Hezbollah ceasefire last week, which states Israeli forces will withdraw from Lebanon over 60 days while the Lebanese army must ensure Hezbollah or other armed groups do not attack Israel.
Trump’s incoming national security adviser, Mike Waltz, credited Trump for the ceasefire — despite the Biden administration emphasizing that the president-elect’s team played absolutely no role in the agreement.
“Everyone is coming to the table because of President Trump,” Waltz insisted in a post on X. “His resounding victory sent a clear message to the rest of the world that chaos won’t be tolerated. I’m glad to see concrete steps towards de-escalation in the Middle East.”
While the Biden administration reportedly briefed the president-elect’s national security team on the ceasefire, Trump officials were not directly involved in the negotiations, a senior Biden administration official said.
Sara Netanyahu traveled to Miami last week, where she was expected to remain for 20 days. She’s scheduled to return to Israel in mid-December.
Netanyahu’s son, Yair, has been living in Miami since March 2023.
