Israeli Minister of Strategic Affairs Ron Dermer met with U.S. President-elect Donald Trump at Mar-a-Lago, Axios reported on Monday, citing two Israeli officials and two U.S. officials.
Ron Dermer © TOL
Israeli Minister of Strategic Affairs Ron Dermer met with U.S. President-elect Donald Trump at Mar-a-Lago, Axios reported on Monday, citing two Israeli officials and two U.S. officials.
The Sunday meeting at Trump's Florida estate between the president-elect and Dermer, a close aide of Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, preceded a meeting between the Israeli minister and U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Monday.
Axios reported that Dermer passed messages from Netanyahu to Trump. He also briefed Trump on Israel's plans for Gaza, Lebanon and Iran for the next two months before Trump takes office, according to the report.
Axios said Dermer additionally met with Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner, who was a top adviser on the Middle East during Trump's 2017-2021 administration.
Netanyahu said on Sunday he had spoken with Trump three times in the prior few days to tighten the alliance between Israel and the United States.
Hopes for a truce in Israel's war in Gaza suffered a setback, with Qatar suspending its role as a mediator in negotiations. Israel separately said on Monday there was progress in talks about a ceasefire in its war in Lebanon.
Some analysts say Democratic President Joe Biden's administration may no longer have enough leverage to get agreement on ceasefires between Israel and its foes after Trump won the U.S. presidential election. He is set to take office on Jan. 20.
The latest bloodshed in the decades-old Israeli-Palestinian conflict was triggered on Oct. 7, 2023, when Palestinian Hamas militants attacked Israel, killing 1,200 people and taking about 250 hostages, according to Israeli tallies. Israel's subsequent assault on Gaza has killed over 43,000, according to Gaza's health ministry.
Israel's separate military operations in Lebanon have killed over 3,000 and displaced over a million. Israel says it is targeting Lebanese Hezbollah militants.
Reporting by Kanishka Singh and Jasper Ward in Washington;
The Israeli military announced Wednesday the elimination of Hassan Ali Marwan, commander of Hezbollah's Imam Hussein Brigade, killed in an overnight airstrike in the Beirut area, just one week after his predecessor was eliminated in the same role.
Israel announced Wednesday it had killed Intelligence Minister Esmail Khatib, the second elimination of a top Iranian leadership figure in as many days, and revealed that the Israeli military had been given blanket authorisation to target any senior Iranian official without requiring additional political approval.
Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi told Al Jazeera Wednesday that Tehran's position against nuclear weapons development would "not significantly change », while cautioning that new Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei had yet to publicly express his own view on the matter.
To make this website run properly and to improve your experience, we use cookies. For more detailed information, please check our Cookie Policy.
Necessary cookies enable core functionality. The website cannot function properly without these cookies, and can only be disabled by changing your browser preferences.