Netanyahu and Trump face tough questions on Palestinian statehood

The meeting could set the tone for Israel’s most important relationship. It may also clarify Mr Trump’s sometimes contradictory and confused approach to the Middle East, writes Rob Crilly.

Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu is due to meet US president Donald Trump on February 15, 2017. All eyes are on the meeting for clarity on Mr Trump’s Middle East policy and stance on PalestinShow more

NEW YORK // Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu will meet Donald Trump in Washington on Wednesday, providing the first test of the American president’s campaign commitments to closer ties as well as his promise to move the US embassy to Jerusalem.

After eight years of frosty relations with Barack Obama, many in Mr Netanyahu’s right-wing coalition believe they now have a friend in the White House.

The meeting could set the tone for Israel’s most important relationship. It may also clarify Mr Trump’s sometimes contradictory and confused approach to the Middle East, with the two leaders expected to discuss regional security and the threat from Iran.

“The alliance between Israel and America has always been extremely strong. It’s about to get even stronger,” Mr Netanyahu said as he boarded a plane to Washington.

“President Trump and I see eye to eye on the dangers emanating from the region, but also on the opportunities.”

Mr Trump was outspoken in his support of Israel during his presidential campaign. He promised to relocate the US embassy to Jerusalem and said he was opposed to any pause in West Bank settlement construction.

Mr Trump has also entrusted much of his Middle East policy to his son-in-law, Jared Kushner. Not only did Mr Kushner grow up in an Orthodox Jewish family but he is a family friend of the Israeli prime minister and his parents’ charity has donated thousands of dollars to a settlement in the occupied West Bank.

It marks a break from Mr Obama, who, like previous US presidents, was committed to Palestinian statehood and consistently opposed settlement building. Despite

However, since his inauguration, Mr Trump has reversed a string of controversial foreign policy stances, including reconfirming America’s One China policy and expressing support for Nato.

On Israel, he has publicly cooled on moving the embassy and on settlement building. “I am not somebody that believes that going forward with these settlements is a good thing for peace,” he told an Israeli newspaper last week.

Some detect the influence of Arab diplomacy. Jordan’s King Abdullah met Mr Trump last week and reportedly warned him that moving the US embassy to Jerusalem would have a detrimental effect on Israel-Palestinian relations.

There are also other reasons for letting the Palestinian question lie. Israel has been quietly reaching out to Gulf states which share its fear of a resurgent Iran. A sudden move by the US could inflame tensions in the region and risks destroying a nascent, de facto alliance between Mr Trump, Israel and the GCC.

Mr Trump's team is complying with Mr Netanyahu's view about how to deal with Iran, said Adnan Khalil, chief editor of Al Hawadeth newspaper which serves American Arabs.

“Also Gulf states — especially Saudi Arabia — have the same perspective. This is a unique coalition now,” he added.

Mr Trump may be waking up to the complexities of the Middle East and realising that bombastic campaign promises on moving the embassy, for example, may disrupt other goals such as curbing Iranian influence.

Others see the pragmatic hand of Mr Netanyahu, the arch survivor. Some analysts believe he is trying to dampen the hopes of fractious right-wingers among his coalition partners and within his own Likud Party.

In the past, he was able to use Mr Obama’s opposition to settlements to keep settler groups in line and maintain the status quo.

Mr Trump’s election changed that, energising hardline ministers who want to make the West Bank part of Israel and to kill off the two-state solution.

But since his inauguration, the new president has begun to express a more sceptical position on settlements.

As a White House statement put it at the start of the month: “While we don’t believe the existence of settlements is an impediment to peace, the construction of new settlements or the expansion of existing settlements beyond their current borders may not be helpful in achieving that goal.”

Lisa Goldman, contributing editor of the Israeli magazine +972, said she believed the White House would not have softened its stance without the go-ahead from the Israeli leadership.

“Netanyahu is in a difficult position from his Right flank,” she said. “And he is very happy with the status quo.”

Watching whether Mr Netanyahu feels the need to lecture his host on settlements — as he did Mr Obama — will provide clues to their relationship, she added.

That relationship goes back to before Mr Trump entered politics. In 2013, he made an election video for Mr Netanyahu which ended with the line: “Vote for Benjamin, terrific guy, terrific leader, great for Israel”.

And then there is Mr Kushner, whose real estate developer father Charles was friendly with Mr Netanyahu before he became prime minister.

During one visit to the family home in New Jersey, Mr Netanyahu even slept in the teenage Kushner’s bed. On another, he played football with boys at a school bearing the Kushner name.

Before Mr Netanyahu left for Washington, he faced calls from Naftali Bennett, his hardline education minister, to use the meeting to abandon the two-state solution. But the Israeli prime minister told his Likud cabinet ministers there would be no sudden shift.

“This requires a responsible and considered policy — and thus I intend to act. I have navigated Israeli-US relations in a prudent manner and I will continue to do so now,” he said.