After a week of discussions with US leaders, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu departed Washington on Sunday morning.
Netanyahu was the first foreign leader to visit President Donald Trump since his inauguration. The Prime Minister also met with various Trump administration officials, bipartisan Congressional leaders, Jewish students and Evangelical Christian leaders.
On Friday, Netanyahu met with Speaker of the United States House of Representatives Mike Johnson at the US Capitol, inviting Johnson to visit Israel.
“You’re invited to Israel this year in Jerusalem. I know you’re busy but find space to do that. You’ll be welcomed with a red carpet,” Netanyahu told Johnson.
Reiterating American support, Johnson stressed that Israel would not be alone “so long as we are governing here.”
Meanwhile, Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz instructed the army to prepare plans to allow Palestinians in Gaza to voluntarily leave the Strip. The initiative would establish options for departure through land crossings, as well as via air and sea, Katz said. His announcement follows US President Donald Trump’s suggestion on Tuesday that the Strip’s residents relocate to third countries while Gaza is rebuilt.
Details of Trump’s suggestion have not been worked out, but any Gazan who wishes to emigrate would be able to do so, provided another country agrees to take them in.
On Thursday, Netanyahu’s office confirmed that the Prime Minister gifted Trump with a golden pager when the two met on Tuesday.
The gift “symbolizes the Prime Minister’s decision that led to a turning point in the war and the starting point for breaking the will of the terrorist organization Hezbollah,” Netanyahu’s office said. The operation, in which booby trapped pagers injured more than 3,500 figures throughout Hezbollah’s ranks in September “expresses the power, technological superiority and cunning of Israel against its enemies,” Netanyahu’s office added.
While in Washington, Netanyahu also ordered that “appropriate action” be taken after hostages Or Levy, Eli Sharabi, and Ohad Ben Ami returned in malnourished and gaunt condition.
“The shocking images we saw today will not pass without response,” the statement said. “The government, together with security officials, will support them and their families. Israel is committed to bringing back all the hostages and missing.”
Netanyahu did not specify what action would be taken.
The ongoing first phase of the ceasefire is supposed to see a total of 33 Israeli hostages freed over six weeks in exchange for hundreds of Palestinian terrorists imprisoned in Israel. The exact number will depend on how many are alive. Since the ceasefire went into effect, 583 Palestinian prisoners have been released.
The fate of the remaining 65 hostages will be determined by negotiations during the ceasefire’s second phase. Critics say the phased approach condemns hostages not freed in the beginning to open-ended captivity and undermines Israel’s war gains.
At least 1,200 people were killed, and 252 Israelis and foreigners were taken hostage in Hamas’s attacks on Israeli communities near the Gaza border on October 7. Of the 76 remaining hostages, more than 30 are believed to be dead.
