Trump invites Bibi to White House

AP Wadi (Gaza)

President Donald Trump has invited Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to the White House next week as the first foreign leader to visit in Trump's second term, Netanhayu’s office and the White House said on Tuesday.

The announcement came as the US pressured Israel and Hamas to continue a ceasefire that has paused a devastating 15-month war in Gaza. Talks about the ceasefire's more difficult second phase, which aims at ending  the war, begin next Monday.

The White House letter shared by Netanyahu's office, stated, "I look forward to discussing how we can bring peace to Israel and its neighbours, and efforts to counter our shared adversaries." 

The meeting on February 4 is a chance for Netanyahu, under pressure at home, to remind the world of the support he has received from Trump over the years, and to defend Israel's conduct of the war. Last year, the two men met face-to-face for the first time in nearly four years at Trump's Florida Mar-a-Lago estate.

Israel is the largest recipient of US military aid, and Netanyahu is likely to encourage Trump not to hold up some weapons deliveries the way the Biden administration did, though it continued other deliveries and overall military support.

Netanyahu also wants Trump to put more pressure on Iran, and renew efforts to deliver a historic normalisation agreement between Israel and Saudi Arabia, a rival of Iran and the Arab world's most powerful country.