From: Haaretz February 3, 2025
At the White House, Trump Will Show Netanyahu Who's the Boss

If Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu puts his domestic political considerations ahead of the U.S. President's wishes, at their meeting on Tuesday, Donald Trump's displeasure will not be a slow burn, as it was during his first term, but a quick ignition

History will remember Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as the first foreign leader to visit the White House during U.S. President Donald Trump's second term.

Netanyahu to extend U.S. visit until Saturday due to 'numerous requests' for meetings

The Prime Minister's Office announced that Benjamin Netanyahu's U.S. visit will be extended until Saturday evening due to "numerous requests for meetings with officials, in the United States."

He was originally scheduled to leave the U.S. on Thursday night.

From: The Times of Israel February 4, 2025
Netanyahu arrives at White House for pivotal meeting with Trump

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu arrives at the White House for his meeting with US President Donald Trump.

Trump waits outside the building as the Israeli premier exits his vehicle, and they shake hands and briefly pose for the cameras before heading inside for a meeting that will be followed by a joint press conference.

Critical discussions are expected,
1. to focus on Iran,
2. the hostage release deal
3. and a future Saudi normalization agreement.

From: The Times of Israel February 4, 2025
Israel and Saudi Arabia:

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and US President Donald hold a press conference in the Oval Office before sitting down for a private meeting, with Trump saying Saudi Arabia isn’t demanding a Palestinian state as a precondition for normalization with Israel.

This has thus far been a clear condition in public remarks by Riyadh.

Asked if the Saudis are demanding a Palestinian state, Trump says, “No, they’re not.”

Responding to a question whether Riyadh is asking for at least a path toward a Palestinian state, Trump says:
“everyone is asking for one thing — peace.”

Trump says:
1. We have the right leader of Israel, to go forward on a normalization deal with Saudi Arabia
2. Netanyahu is doing a great job
3. and we’ve been friends for a long time

Trump Says Palestinians Have ‘No Alternative’ But to Leave Gaza

Trump backs permanently resettling Gazans — in Jordan, Egypt and ‘other countries’
President Trump said he wanted Palestinians in Gaza to be relocated to a new area.

Throughout the day, Trump stoked controversy by suggesting Palestinians would “love to leave” Gaza, spurring fears he would back an ethnic cleansing campaign.

Trump asked during a sit-down with Netanyahu: “Who would want to go back?”

Responding to questions about his idea of moving Gazans out of the Strip to Arab countries, US President Donald Trump says:
1. "other countries” besides Jordan and Egypt will also accept Palestinians, who will leave Gaza permanently.
2. I think that Gaza is a demolition site right now.
3. If you look at Gaza, there’s hardly a building standing and the ones that are, are going to collapse.
4. You can’t live in Gaza right now.
5. I think we need another location, a location that’s going to make people happy.

It’s all death in Gaza,” he continues, alongside Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. “This has been happening for years.
Right now you have in Gaza a very dangerous situation in terms of explosives all over the place.
1. I believe we can do it in areas where leaders currently say no
2. if Gazans had an alternative “they’d much rather not go back.
3. claims that the “only reason the Palestinians want to go back to Gaza is that they have no alternative

Hamas official: Trump’s Gaza relocation plan a ‘recipe for creating chaos’ in Mideast

A senior Hamas official slams Donald Trump’s remarks as a “recipe for creating chaos” in the Middle East after the US president claimed that Palestinians have “no alternative” but to leave Gaza during the Strip’s lengthy reconstruction.

Sami Abu Zuhri in a statement, says:
1. We consider it a recipe for creating chaos and tension in the region
2. Our people in the Gaza Strip will not allow these plans to pass
3. What is required is an end to the occupation and aggression against our people, not their expulsion from their land

From: The Jerusalem Post February 4, 2025

The two-state delusion is dead: Israel knows it, the world must accept it
The only question now is: Will the world accept that?

Israel is not the same country it was before October 7 and it will never be again.

Israel has changed; the Center has changed, the Right has changed, and the Left has changed.

Nearly a year and a half after October 7 Israelis are more conservative, more hawkish, and more pragmatic than they’ve ever been – for obvious reasons.

The world might still be debating the morality of Israel’s war in Gaza, but Israelis no longer have that luxury.

We don’t get to view this war as a theoretical exercise or a topic for a panel discussion in Brussels.
For us in Israel, our current reality is about survival.

The enemy’s entire strategy and ideology are built on one goal: to wipe Israel off the map.

It’s not just Hamas – we’re talking about an entire culture of incitement, where,
1. killing Jews is glorified,
2. terrorism is rewarded with salaries,
3. and “resistance” means launching rockets at Israeli cities while hiding behind civilians.

Most Palestinians in Gaza support Hamas, the latest polls have shown.

That is a huge problem – the world seems to want Israel to pretend otherwise, to believe in some magical moderate Palestinian leadership that doesn’t actually exist, and if it does, it is marginal. Israelis, however, are done pretending.

This is a remarkable transformation: Just a few years ago, any talk of relocating Palestinians was considered fringe.

The Center has shifted to the Right, while the Right has moved even further Right. And the Left? It has largely disappeared.

If October 7 proved anything, it’s that Israel cannot afford to live next to another terror state.
A Jewish People Policy Institute (JPPI) survey, released ahead of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Tuesday meeting with Trump, found that seven out of ten Israelis support the idea of relocation.

1. Among Jewish Israelis 52% consider it a viable plan, while another 30% say it is desirable but not realistic.
2. More than 80% of Jewish Israelis support the idea in some form.
3. Among Arab Israelis, 54% call the plan “immoral”; 3% of Jewish Israelis agreed.

From: The Times of Israel February 4, 2025
Trump declines to commit to backing Palestinian state as he did in previous term: ‘A lot of plans change’

US President Donald Trump declines to commit to supporting a Palestinian state, as he did, in his previous term.

He says alongside Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in the Oval Office.
1. Well, a lot of plans change with time
2. A lot of death has occurred since I left and now came back
3. Now we are faced with a situation that’s different “in some ways better, in some ways worse.”

From: The Times of Israel February 4, 2025

Gaza:
Trump says he doesn’t support building Jewish settlements in Gaza

At the Oval Office alongside Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, US President Donald Trump says he does not support building Jewish settlements in the Gaza Strip, a step further from his answer earlier today that he “doesn’t necessarily” back such a move.

He tells reporters:
1. I don’t see it happening
2. It’s too dangerous for people
3. No one wants to be there
4. Their warriors don’t want to be there
5. Their soldiers don’t want to be there

While Netanyahu himself early in the war called the prospect of resettling Gaza “unrealistic,” some of his far-right coalition partners have called for taking the step.

West Bank:
Asked if he backs Israel annexing West Bank, Trump says he’ll likely make announcement in next 4 weeks

From: The Times of Israel February 5, 2025

Trump-Netanyahu press conference:
Trump: US will ‘take over’ Gaza, ‘own’ it, develop it, then make it an ‘international’ area

In comments shocking the entire press corps, US President Donald Trump says he wants the US to “take over” Gaza and “own” the Strip, in order to rebuild the coastal enclave after it was leveled, in the nearly 16 months of a devastating war between Israel and Hamas militants.

Trump says during a press conference alongside Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu:
He doesn’t specify who, those jobs will be for, given that he is also calling for all Palestinians to be removed from Gaza.

Trump later clarifies that the “world’s people” will be the ones to live in Gaza once the US finishes rebuilding it.
He says the Palestinians can be among them, adding that it will be an “international” area.

Trump calls the Gaza Strip a “symbol of death and destruction” for many decades and an “unlucky” place.

He reiterates his belief that Palestinians should be removed from the “hell hole” of Gaza, but this time makes the statement while reading from prepared remarks, further indicating that this has become the administration’s official policy and not an off-the-cuff idea.

Trump says:
1. Gaza should not go through a process of rebuilding and occupation by the same people that … lived a miserable existence there
2. Trump says Gaza’s population of roughly 1.8 million people should be transferred to countries “of interest with humanitarian hearts"

Trump claims:
1. There are many of them that want to do this,
2. one or multiple countries could take in Palestinians from Gaza.
3. the rebuilding of Gaza could be “paid for by neighboring countries of great wealth.”

From: skynews February 5, 2025
‘Unbreakable’: ‘Cherished’ US-Israel alliance will be ‘stronger than ever’

Donald Trump has vowed the “cherished” alliance between the United States and Israel will be “stronger than ever” under his administration.

The US president was joined by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the White House for a joint press conference on Tuesday evening, local time.

President Trump said:
“I am confident that under our leadership, the cherished alliance between our two countries will soon be stronger than ever.”

From: The Guardian February 5, 2025

The US president, Donald Trump, and Israel’s prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, addressed reporters following talks at the White House. Here are the main takeaways from the joint press conference:

Trump says US-Israel bond is 'unbreakable' after 'fantastic' talks with Netanyahu

Donald Trump says he is “delighted” to welcome Benjamin Netanyahu to the White House, noting that Netanyahu is the first foreign head of state to visit since Trump’s inauguration.

Trump described talks with Netanyahu as “fantastic” and described the relationship between the US and Israel as “great”.
Netanyahu described Trump as “the greatest friend Israel has ever had in the White House”.

Trump says US troops will be deployed to Gaza 'if it's necessary'

Asked whether US troops will be deployed to Gaza, Trump says:
Trump says he can’t say whether the Gaza ceasefire will hold, adding that
“we weren’t helped very much by the Biden administration”. “We hope it holds,”

Trump claims the Hamas attacks on 7 October “would have never happened” if he had been the US president at the time.

He says that he and Netanyahu have been discussing:
1. how we can work together, to ensure Hamas is eliminated
2. and ultimately restore peace to a very troubled region

Netanyahu says Israel has to 'finish the job in Gaza'

Netanyahu asks Trump to help secure Israel’s future. “We have to finish the job in Gaza,” he says.

He says that Israel has three goals:
1. to destroy Hamas,
2. secure the release of hostages,
3. and “ensure that Gaza never again poses a threat to Israel.”

Netanyahu says he believes that Trump and his “willingness to puncture conventional thinking” will help Israel achieve these goals.

We will not only win the war working together, we will win the peace with your leadership, Mr President, and our partnership.

Trump says he is “hopeful” that the ceasefire between Israel and Hamas can be the beginning of a larger and more enduring peace that will end the bloodshed and killing “once and for all”.

He notes that he signed an executive order on Tuesday withdrawing the US from the UN’s human right council – a body that he described as “antisemitic” – and ending all support for the UN’s Palestinian refugees agency (UNRWA)

Trump says America and Israel will:
1. restore calm and stability” to the region
2. and “expand prosperity, opportunity and hope, to our nations
3. and for all people, in the Middle East.

In a joint press conference with Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu, US president Trump outlined a bizarre and unprecedented vision for Gaza.

In a shock announcement, Trump said the US will “take over” and “own” the Gaza Strip. He said:
1. We will own it
2. and be responsible for dismantling all of the dangerous unexploded bombs and other weapons, on the site
3. the US will “level” destroyed buildings in the Palestinian territory
4. and “create an economic development” that will supply unlimited numbers of jobs
5. and housing for the people of the area.

Trump said he envisioned a “long-term” US ownership of Gaza after Palestinians are moved elsewhere.
1. This is not a decision made lightly,
2. everybody I’ve spoken to loves the idea of the United States owning that piece of land.
3. This is an idea that gotten tremendous … praise from the highest level of leadership.

He went on to say that Gaza could become “the Riviera of the Middle East” where “the world’s people” could live there, including Palestinians.

Trump, asked what authority would allow the US to “take over” the Gaza Strip?
He says, he sees a “long-term ownership position” which he says will bring “great stability” to the entire Middle East region

Donald Trump has vowed that US would “take over” war ravaged Gaza and “own it”, effectively endorsing the ethnic cleansing of Palestinians, in an announcement shocking even by the standards of his norm-shattering presidency, writes the Guardian’s David Smith.

President’s plan, which is low on detail, would involve the permanent resettlement of Palestinians from Gaza to neighbouring countries

At the press conference, in which hundreds of journalists crowded into the east room, the president was asked if the plan might involve US military force: "As far as Gaza is concerned, we’ll do what is necessary, If it’s necessary, we’ll do that."

Netanyahu said: “it’s worth paying attention to this” idea and added that it’s “something that could change history”. Trump was “thinking outside the box with fresh ideas”, Netanyahu observed, and is “showing willingness to puncture conventional thinking.”


Senior Hamas official Sami Abu Zuhri condemned Trump’s calls for Palestinians in Gaza to leave as “expulsion from their land”,

“We consider them a recipe for generating chaos and tension in the region because the people of Gaza will not allow such plans to pass.” -- and October 7 recipe... was not?

Some early reactions to Trump’s audacious plan to take ‘ownership’ of Gaza is coming in...

Saudi Arabia stresses rejection of attempts to displace Palestinians

Reaction to the Trump press conference and the US president’s startling assertion that the US should control Gaza and Palestinians should live elsewhere is starting to come in from the Middle East.

Saudi Arabia has made a statement saying:
1. it rejects attempts to displace Palestinians
2. and would not establish relations with Israel without the creation of a Palestinian state.

"Our homeland is our homeland," says Palestinian envoy to UN

Before US president Trump suggested that Gaza could be transformed into the ‘Riviera’ of the Middle East, the Palestinian envoy to the United Nations said that world leaders and people should respect Palestinians’ desire to remain in Gaza.

Palestinian UN envoy Riyad Mansour:
1. Our homeland is our homeland, if part of it is destroyed, the Gaza Strip, the Palestinian people selected the choice to return to it,
2. And I think that leaders and people should respect the wishes of the Palestinian people.

Mansour did not name Trump but appeared to reject the US president’s proposal.

“Our country and our home is” the Gaza Strip, “it’s part of Palestine,” “We have no home.

Trump Hotels, casinos and golf courses along the Mediterranean Sea also strategic smart would be a very bold move.

Donald Trump’s Gaza plan: the key takeaways
The US president has unveiled a plan for the US to take long-term ownership of the Gaza Strip. Here are are the key points from the press conference with Benjamin Netanyahu

Middle East crisis – live updates
Full report: Trump makes shock Gaza announcement
Léonie Chao-Fong and agencies
Wed 5 Feb 2025 03.15 CET

Donald Trump and Israel’s prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, addressed reporters at the White House, where the US president announced his intention to take over the Gaza Strip, move Palestinians to neighbouring countries and redevelop the territory for occupation by “the world’s people”. Here are the main takeaways from their joint press conference on Tuesday evening:

In a shock announcement, Trump said the US will “take over” and “own” the Gaza Strip. The US president said he envisioned a “long-term” US ownership of the territory after all Palestinians were moved elsewhere. He did not explain how and under what authority the US can take over the land of Gaza. “We will own it and be responsible for dismantling all of the dangerous unexploded bombs and other weapons on the site,” he said. He said the US would “level” destroyed buildings and “create an economic development that will supply unlimited numbers of jobs and housing for the people of the area.”

The US president called Gaza a “symbol of death and destruction” and that the only reason people want to go back there is because they have nowhere else to go. The 1.8 million Palestinians living in Gaza should move to neighbouring countries with “humanitarian hearts” and “great wealth”, Trump said. Earlier he had called for Jordan, Egypt and other Arab states to take in Palestinians. He said they could be split up across a number of separate sites. Forced displacement of the population would probably be a violation of international law and would be fiercely opposed not only in the region but also by Washington’s western allies. Some human rights advocates liken the idea to ethnic cleansing.

He went on to say that Gaza could become “the Riviera of the Middle East” where “the world’s people” could live there, echoing the previous sentiments of his son-in-law Jared Kushner, who said Gaza had very valuable “waterfront property”.

Trump gave a vague answer when asked a question on whether he supported a two-state solution. Asked if his view that Palestinians should be relocated from Gaza was a sign that he was against the two-state policy that has been the foreign policy approach of the United States for decades, Trump said no. “It doesn’t mean anything about a two-state or one state or any other state. It means that we want to have, we want to give people a chance at life,” he said. “They have never had a chance at life because the Gaza Strip has been a hellhole for people living there. It’s been horrible.”

Trump claimed high-level support among unnamed leaders he had spoken to. “This is not a decision made lightly,” he said, adding that “everybody I’ve spoken to loves the idea of the United States owning that piece of land.” He said the move would bring “great stability to that part of the Middle East”.

Trump did not rule out sending US troops to secure Gaza. “As far as Gaza is concerned, we’ll do what is necessary. If it’s necessary, we’ll do that,” he said. On Trump’s idea of taking over Gaza, Netanyahu said the US president “sees a different future for Gaza”, adding: “I think it’s something that could change history.”

Trump said he would probably announce a position on Israeli sovereignty over the West Bank in the next month. “We haven’t been taking the position on it yet,” he said. Trump added that he planned to visit the Gaza Strip, Israel and Saudi Arabia.

Netanyahu described Trump as “the greatest friend Israel has ever had in the White House”. The Israeli leader said “we have to finish the job in Gaza”, and said “Israel will end the war by winning the war.” Netanyahu praised Trump for “thinking outside the box with fresh ideas” and “showing willingness to puncture conventional thinking”.

The Saudi government, in a statement, stressed its rejection of any attempt to displace Palestinians from their land and said it would not establish relations with Israel without establishment of a Palestinian state. Meanwhile Hamas condemned Trump’s calls for Palestinians in Gaza to leave as “expulsion from their land”. The Palestinian envoy to the United Nations said that world leaders and people should respect Palestinians’ desire to remain in Gaza.

Haaretz February 5, 2025

From hostages to U.S. takeover: Trump moved the Gaza goalposts and gifted Netanyahu a political lifeline

Ahead of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's landmark meeting with U.S. President Donald Trump, the vast majority of the focus was placed on how much pressure the re-elected American leader would exert on Netanyahu to see through the cease-fire deal and secure the release of the remaining hostages.

All of that went out the window after Trump quickly shifted the goalposts from focusing on the hostages to calling for a U.S. takeover of Gaza backed by the permanent displacement of every Palestinian in Gaza.

This very notion would have boggled the mind as recently as two weeks ago, though this is the latest example of the breakneck news cycle putting previously unimaginable circumstances into the universe.

Al Jazeera February 5, 2025
Pro-Palestinian protesters call for Netanyahu’s arrest

Laila Khalil, from the Palestinian Youth Movement, has told Al Jazeera that protesters outside the White House are;
1. demanding the administration comply with the ICC arrest warrant and arrest the war criminal, Netanyahu
2. We continue to demand an arms embargo Zero chance
3. We continue to fight for the liberation of Palestine
4. No matter who’s in the White House, we’re fighting for the exact same thing

Reflecting on Trump’s role in the ceasefire between Israel and Hamas in Gaza, Khalil said;
the US president “is not the reason” a deal was reached. “The ceasefire happened because of the strength and resilience of the people in Palestine and everyone abroad who is fighting for Palestine,” terrorists and hoodlums

The Guardian February 5, 2025

Prior to President’s Trump’s shock press conference Amnesty International described the US as; “showing contempt for international justice” by failing to arrest Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu, despite the International Criminal Court issuing a warrant for his arrest in November last year.

Netanyahu is wanted by the ICC to face charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity.

antisemitic Amnesty International “showing contempt for international justice”
1. US not an ICC member
2. Mongolia an ICC member didn't arrest Putin when he visited
3. U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres travelled to Russia for the BRICS meeting with ICC war criminal Putin

The Guardian February 5, 2025
Protests outside the White House

Pro-Palestinian demonstrators have gathered outside the White House and appear to be rejecting a proposal to ‘take over Gaza’ that was put forward by US president Donald Trump in an extraordinary press conference earlier today.

The New York Times writes that people in the crowds were chanting:
“Donald Trump belongs in jail!” and “Palestine is not for sale!” Sold

Al Jazeera February 5, 2025
Trump says he lifted ‘de-facto arms embargo’ on Israel

Trump told reporters; “I ended the last administration’s de-facto arms embargo on over $1bn in military assistance for Israel.”

U.S. Considers Sending Israel 24,000 Assault Rifles Held Back Under Biden
Democratic lawmakers had expressed concerns to Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken about the rifles possibly going to settler militias or being misused by the police.

Mr. Blinken had asked the State Department not to move forward with fulfilling Israel’s request, which comprises three tranches valued at a total of $34 million.

Trump had earlier confirmed his administration was lifting the Biden administration’s pause on the supply of 2,000-pound (900kg) bombs to Israel

Netanyahu thanks Trump, for freeing up munitions that have been withheld from Israel” by the Biden administration.
“They had been withheld from Israel, in the midst of a seven-front war for our existence

And you just freed it,” he said, referring to a cache of weapons, previously held up by former US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, that Trump authorised for shipment last week.

Reuters February 5, 2025

Trump to 'Post': Gazan relocation plan will happen, Egypt and Jordan won't say no

US President Donald Trump told The Jerusalem Post that he believed Jordan and Egypt "won’t tell [him] no" when asked to welcome Gazan refugees during his meeting with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, in the Oval Office on Tuesday.

"They won’t tell me no I want to remove all the residents of Gaza," he responded, "It will happen."

Aaron David Miller, Middle East analyst says;
1. Zero chance of it happening
2. Trump right now harnessing his presidency, to a scheme to transfer Palestinians out of Gaza-validating extremist Israeli right;
3. reaching a new low in logic and human rights;
4. bucking up Iran
5. and undermining US Arab partners.

J Street President Jeremy Ben-Ami; It's a death sentence for hostages still held by Hamas terrorists and hoodlums

Haaretz February 5, 2025
Republicans praise Trump's Gaza plan;

Marco Rubio; United States stands ready to lead and Make Gaza Beautiful Again

Gaza MUST BE FREE from Hamas.
the United States stands ready to lead and Make Gaza Beautiful Again. Our pursuit is one of lasting peace in the region for all people.

Steve Witkoff; after Trump’s Gaza bombshell 'A better life isn't necessarily tied to physical space'

Republican lawmakers rallied behind Trump's plan for a US takeover of the Gaza Strip, despite the significant risks it presents that tend to go against GOP interests, while Jewish groups and Democrats slammed it as "incomprehensible" and "legally and morally unacceptable."

Yes! Trump can! Make Israel Great, Mighty, Powerful and Secure Again

Key takeaways from Trump-Netanyahu press conference:
Trump got Israel back no matter what

Netanyahu's visit was expected to last several hours and include a joint press conference, all meant to demonstrate Trump's solidarity with Israel.

The comity between the men could belie a relationship that's more complicated than it sometimes appears – with nothing less than the future of the Middle East potentially riding on Trump's words.

Trump, who openly pines for a Nobel Peace Prize, may see his opportunity in such a pursuit, which could transform the entire Middle East and create a new bulwark against Iran, a common foe to Jerusalem and Riyadh.

In the lead-up to last November's election, there was little question among Biden's team that Netanyahu favored a Trump victory, believing he would enjoy a far wider remit from the American government to prosecute his war aims with Trump in office instead of
then-Vice President Kamala Harris.

Those predictions have not been wrong

Already, Trump has lifted a hold on heavy bomb deliveries to Israel rolling back one of the few Biden-era policies meant to exert leverage on Israel amid its war in Gaza.

US President Donald Trump says it’s ‘not good’ that Israel has such a ‘small piece of land’ when asked by reporters if he supports annexation of the West Bank. Trump compares Israel 'tiny land' in the Middle East to a pen on his desk

“See this pen?” he continued, holding up the pen he was using to sign executive orders in the Oval Office.
“This wonderful pen on my desk is the Middle East, and the tip of the pen — that’s Israel.”

If October 7 proved anything, it’s that Israel cannot afford to live next to another terror state

It's funny how the Left is responding the Gazans are doomed now the whole area is a mess and still a threat to Israel with Hamas and Islamic Jihad. Syria, Lebanon and Gaza could be a place like Dubai.