Bibi heads to White House as first leader to be hosted by Pres. Trump

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin "Bibi" Netanyahu boarded a flight to Washington, D.C., on Sunday ahead of his meeting with President Donald Trump on Tuesday. Netanyahu will be the first foreign leader hosted at the White House under Trump’s second administration.

Before he left, Bibi emphasized the importance of the meeting and outlined the issues to discuss, including defeating Hamas, releasing all of the remaining hostages, and dealing with Iran and its terror proxies.

“I’m leaving for a very important meeting with President Trump in Washington,” Bibi told reporters. “The fact that this would be President Trump’s first meeting with a foreign leader since his inauguration is telling.”

Netanyahu called the honor of him being the first invited a “a testimony to the strength of the Israeli-American alliance” and a “testimony to the strength of our personal friendship.”

Trump’s relationship has been more warm than predecessors former President Barack Obama and former President Joe Biden. Upon taking office, Trump reversed the Biden administration’s hold on 2,000-pound bombs being delivered to Israel.

Netanyahu also touted the accomplishments Israel and the U.S. had under the former Trump administration, including the Abraham Accords.

“That friendship and that cooperation has already yielded important results for Israel and the Middle East, including the historic Abraham Accords that President Trump led and which brought four historic peace treaties between Israel and its Arab neighbors,” he said.

Netanyahu added that while Israel and the Israel Defense Forces successfully weakened their enemies in the Middle East and “redrawn the map,” he believes that with the Trump administration, they can “redraw it even further and for the better.”

“I believe that we can strengthen security, broaden the circle of peace and achieve a remarkable era of peace through strength,” Netanyahu added.

Netanyahu’s visit comes as Trump works to negotiate the release of all hostages held by Hamas terrorists in Gaza. So far, 13 of the 33 hostages slated to be released under the first phase of the deal have been freed, including U.S. citizen Keith Siegel. Seven more Americans are still held hostage. An additional 5 Thai hostages were released under a separate agreement.

In Trump’s invitation letter, he said he was “looking forward to discussing how we can bring peace to Israel and its neighbors, and efforts to counter our shared adversaries.”

“It will be my honor to host you as my first foreign leader during my second term,” Trump added.

The United Kingdom’s former prime minister, Theresa May, was the first to visit Trump at the White House during his first term.

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