Leaders trade praise as both confront tests
WASHINGTON — Under twin clouds of legal investigation, President Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu presented a united front on Monday, Trump announcing he might travel to Jerusalem to preside over the opening of the new U.S. Embassy and Netanyahu praising the American leader.
In a show of strong support for Netanyahu, who faces corruption allegations at home, Trump dangled the possibility of his second visit to Israel as president. However, he said nothing about whether he would use the trip to unveil his much-vaunted but still mysterious peace plan for Israel and the Palestinians.
The president said his controversial decision to recognize Jerusalem as Israel’s capital and move the U.S. Embassy from Tel Aviv to the holy city had improved chances for ending the conflict, despite Palestinians’ insistence otherwise. The two steps enraged the Palestinians, who claim part of Jerusalem for the capital of an eventual state and accuse Trump of abandoning the U.S. role of honest broker.
Trump and his wife, Melania, welcomed Netanyahu and his wife, Sara, to the White House just hours after Israeli police announced that a third confidant of the prime minister had agreed to turn state’s witness in the burgeoning corruption case. Netanyahu and his wife were questioned separately by police for hours on Friday before their departure for Washington.
Their meeting Monday also came amid the continuing U.S. investigation into Russian meddling in the 2016 presidential campaign, a probe that may have implications for the president’s Mideast peace point man, son-inlaw Jared Kushner, who recently lost his top secret security clearance. And, it took place as profound turmoil in the Middle East threatens hopes of a resumption in IsraeliPalestinian negotiations and attempts to restore stability in the volatile region more broadly.
Trump said his Mideast team, led by Kushner, was hard at work on a peace proposal that is nearing completion, but he offered no details on the plan that the Palestinians say will be dead on arrival and not worth discussing.
He said that despite their anger, “the Palestinians, I think, are wanting to come back to the table.” There was no apparent evidence for the assertion.
Trump said he was looking into the possibility of traveling to Jerusalem in mid-May, when the embassy is slated to move into a temporary location that is now an annex of the U.S. consulate.
“We’re looking at coming,” he said. “If I can, I will.”
For his part, Netanyahu praised Trump for the Jerusalem recognition and the embassy move, comparing him with the Persian King Cyrus, who allowed Jews to return to Jerusalem from Babylon 2,500 years ago; former British Foreign Secretary Arthur Balfour, who signed a declaration in 1917 supporting the creation of a Jewish state in what was then the British mandate of Palestine; and President Harry Truman, the first world leader to recognize Israel in 1948.
“Mr. President, this will be remembered by our people throughout the ages,” Netanyahu said.