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article with live video Netanyahu heads to US for pivotal Trump talks
Trump has moved quickly to reset relations.
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Netanyahu heads to US for pivotal Trump talks
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Netanyahu heads to US for pivotal Trump talks
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu addresses a joint meeting of Congress at the US Capitol in Washington, US, Jul 24, 2024. (Photo: REUTERS/Craig Hudson)
02 Feb 2025 08:23PM(Updated: 02 Feb 2025 08:29PM)
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Read a summary of this article on FAST.
JERUSALEM: Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu left on Sunday (Feb 2) for the United States where he will become the first foreign leader to meet Donald Trump since the US president returned to office.
His visit comes as a fragile truce holds between Israel and Hamas in Gaza, and between Israel and Hezbollah in Lebanon. Both militant groups are backed by Iran.
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Before boarding his flight, Netanyahu said the pair would discuss "victory over Hamas, achieving the release of all our hostages and dealing with the Iranian terror axis".
During his first term, Trump declared Israel "never had a better friend in the White House", an attitude that appears to have endured.
Before departing, Netanyahu called it "telling" that he would be the first foreign leader to meet Trump since his inauguration.
"I think it's a testimony to the strength of the Israeli-American alliance," he said.
After Hamas's Oct 7, 2023 attack on Israel, Trump's predecessor Joe Biden had maintained military and diplomatic support for Israel.
But the Biden administration also distanced itself over the mounting death toll from Israel's ensuing war in Gaza and delays to aid deliveries.
Trump has moved quickly to reset relations.
