Netanyahu to visit White House on Monday
The Washington Post
WASHINGTON — No world leader has forged a closer or more public camaraderie with President Donald Trump than Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who visits the White House on Monday battling corruption allegations that have echoes in the White House itself.
Both leaders have sought to put their tight bond on frequentdisplay during Mr. Trump’s first year as president — and that is likely to be especially true for Mr. Netanyahu now.
The Israeli prime minister is under legal scrutiny at home for his possible role in several bribery scandals, including allegedly granting regulatory benefits worth millions of dollars to Israeli telecom giant Bezeq. He denies the allegations and is eager to highlight his politically valuable relationship with Mr. Trump, the pro-Israel leader of his country’s most important ally and defender.
Mr. Netanyahu is expected to invite Mr. Trump to a ribbon-cutting in May for the controversial relocated U.S. Embassy in Jerusalem, U.S. and Israeli officials said, although no visit is on the books.
Hours after Israeli police finished questioning him in one case Friday, Mr. Netanyahu released a Facebook video saying the investigations will yield nothing and highlighting his “important” visit to Washington and the meeting with “a great friend of Israel, a true friend, President Donald Trump.”
Mr. Trump, however, has problems of his own that are thrust into the spotlight by Mr. Netanyahu’s visit. Four former Trump associates have been charged or have pleaded guilty in an ongoing special counsel investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election. And the president’s son-in-law and chief Mideast adviser, Jared Kushner, is under scrutiny for blurring business and government work and has lost his toplevel security clearance.
“The fascinating thing is how strong the parallels are between Trump and Netanyahu” at this moment, said Jeremy BenAmi, president of J Street, a liberal U.S. pro-Israel advocacy group critical of both Mr. Trump and Mr. Netanyahu.
“This swirl of corruption and investigation, the conflict of interest, is at the center of both administrations. You see both men respond in the same way — attacks on fundamental institutions of democracy like the judiciary and the media,” Mr. Ben-Amisaid.