President Donald Trump said the White House had not officially arranged a meeting with Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu, even as he indicated that the Israeli leader was eager to meet and that a visit was likely to take place in Florida.
Asked in the Oval Office whether Netanyahu would be coming to Mar-a-Lago later in the month, Trump replied, “We haven’t set it up formally, but he would like to see me,” adding, “He’ll probably come to see me in Florida.”
Despite repeated briefings from Netanyahu’s office over more than a week asserting that a meeting was scheduled for December 29, the White House had not issued any formal confirmation.
During the same exchange with reporters, Trump was also questioned about the possibility of Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi joining the gathering in Florida. Trump responded warmly, saying, “I’d love to have him. El-Sissi is a friend of mine.”
According to a US official quoted by The Times of Israel, Washington had been exploring the idea of hosting a three-way meeting involving Trump, Sissi, and Netanyahu. The official said US officials believed progress toward that goal was made after American mediation helped persuade Israel to move forward with a major gas agreement with Egypt, following months of hesitation by Netanyahu.
However, the same official said Egypt showed significantly less interest in such a summit, citing ongoing objections to Israel’s actions in Gaza and reluctance to offer Netanyahu a political advantage during an election year.
{Matzav.com}
