When Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu visits US President Donald Trump, high-flown rhetoric is expected, given the recently concluded 12-day war with Iran. The leaders will try to convey an image of having "saved" Western civilization, believes Anders Persson, a political scientist at Linnaeus University.
It will be a victory parade. It will probably also be, for lack of better words and expressions, a macho event, he says, highlighting previous meetings with hugs and long handshakes.
At the same time, Trump has been increasing pressure on Israel to negotiate a ceasefire in Gaza, where over 57,000 Palestinians have been reported killed in Israeli attacks, as well as a hostage agreement.
Netanyahu is expected to respond to the proposed ceasefire during the meeting, a proposal that Trump claims has already been accepted by Israel. Over the weekend, Israel announced that it is sending a delegation to Qatar for negotiations as early as Sunday.
Hamas, whose terrorist attack on Israel on October 7, 2023, was the starting point for the war, announced on Friday that it had given a preliminary "positive" response to the mediators but wants to negotiate the details.
Anders Persson believes that Trump and Netanyahu may be willing to compromise and assesses that Netanyahu has greater political maneuvering room after the ceasefire with Iran.
Several question marks
Not much is known about the proposal beyond the fact that it involves a 60-day ceasefire. But Anders Persson sees two major question marks in the proposal – whether it will lead to an end to the war, and how Gaza will be governed without Hamas.
Plus the issue of trust – whether the parties can trust each other, and can trust Donald Trump, he emphasizes.
When Netanyahu visited the White House in April, a ceasefire was also on the table. But it was his first visit in February, shortly after Trump resumed his presidency, that made the most waves. Trump then said that the US would "take over" Gaza and make it the "Riviera of the Middle East".
Interfering
Trump also seems to have a forward-looking strategy regarding Netanyahu, according to Persson. Recently, he went out on social media and demanded that an ongoing Israeli corruption and bribery trial against Netanyahu be "immediately" dropped.
This may be about Trump wanting to see Netanyahu's position strengthened to expand the Abraham Accords, which were signed in 2020 between Israel and four Arab countries. However, interfering in other countries' domestic politics and court processes is sensitive.
It is a direct intervention in another country's democratic processes, and it is also a very great service to Netanyahu, there is no doubt about it.
