The meeting was the third time Trump has hosted Netanyahu since returning to the White House in January and has called for a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas.
Benjamin Netanyahu nominates President Trump for the Nobel Peace Prize
President Donald Trump hosted Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in the White House.
- Trump and Netanyahu were looking for other countries where Palestinians could move spontaneously.
- Netanyahu said the Palestinians could not trust the Gaza government after the way Hamas attacked Israel.
WASHINGTON – President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said they would seek other countries to relocate Palestinians as part of ending Israeli war with Hamas.
When asked about solutions for the two states, including the recognition of an independent Palestinian state, Netanyahu said that Palestinians have already shown they cannot trust their neighbouring governments through Hamas.
“So it’s unlikely that people would say, ‘Let’s give them another state and a platform to destroy Israel,'” Netanyahu said.
Netanyahu added that Israel will “settle peace with our Palestinian neighbors, those who do not want to destroy us.” But he said Israel must maintain control of security and that if people say “it’s not perfect,” “we don’t care.”
“We never swear again,” he said.
Netanyahu said Israel must maintain security control over Gaza rather than in perfect condition.
“I think the Palestinians should have all the powers to govern themselves, but none of them will threaten us,” he said. “That means certain forces like overall security will always stay in our hands. Now that’s true, and no one in Israel agrees to anything else because we don’t commit suicide.”
Netanyahu told White House reporters that “Trump is bringing a vision” to the region in search of other countries to find Palestinians.
Trump called for the US to take over the Gaza Strip in February and move around nearly 2 million Palestinians to neighboring Arab countries. His goal, he said, was to turn the war-torn enclave into a “Middle Eastern Riviera.”
“It’s called free choice,” Netanyahu said. “If people want to stay, they can stay, but if they want to leave, they should be able to leave. It should not be a prison. It is an open place and it should give people a free choice.”
The meeting was the third time Trump has hosted Netanyahu since returning to the White House in January. Before meeting with the president, Netanyahu previously met with Trump envoys of the Middle East, Steve Witkoff and Secretary of State Marco Rubio.
Authorities are seeking a ceasefire in the war between Israel and Hamas that attacked southern Israel in October 2023. The attack killed about 1,200 people and took 251 hostages. Approximately 50 hostages remain, with 20 being believed to be alive.
Hamas demanded that the war be concluded before releasing the remaining hostages. Israel claims that all hostages are free and that they do not agree to stop the battle until Hamas is dismantled.
“We need to end this war,” White House press chief Caroline Leavitt told reporters on July 7.
“I don’t think there’s a hold-up,” Trump said.
“Something good happens”: Netanyahu
Netanyahu said Israel would “give a good future for the Palestinians” in order to work with Trump to find other countries.
“We have been working very hard from the countries surrounding Israel,” Trump said. “Something good will happen.”
The Israelis cherish life for themselves and their neighbors in the “wide Middle East,” Netanyahu said. However, he said that Israel cannot allow its neighbors to threaten it.
