US President Invites Israeli Prime Minister to White House for Peace Talks
The invitation was made in a letter from the US president inviting the Israeli prime minister to come to the White House on 4 February to discuss how we can bring peace to Israel and its neighbors, and efforts to counter our shared adversaries.
"It will be my honour to host you as my first foreign leader during my second term," the letter read.
Trump and Netanyahu have had a difficult personal relationship, but Israel remains the US's closest ally in the region. Steve Witkoff, Trump's Middle East envoy, is said to have had a tense conversation with Netanyahu in the days before a hostages-for-ceasefire deal was negotiated between Hamas and Israel, on the day before Trump's inauguration.
Since then, Trump has lifted a ban on supplying Israel with 2,000lb bombs that had been held back by the Biden administration in opposition to Israel's overwhelming use of force against Gaza.
