Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vows to “make history” as he heads to Washington for two meetings with US President Donald Trump, during which the White House is expected to unveil its much-anticipated plan for Israeli-Palestinian peace.
“Over the last three years, I spoke countless times with President Trump — a huge friend of Israel — and his team about these vital security needs, about our security, about our justice,” he declares. “I will meet with President Trump tomorrow, and on Tuesday, together with him, we will make history.”
As he boards his Boeing 777 en route to the American capital, Netanyahu contrasts his antagonistic stance toward the last US president, Barack Obama, with his strong alliance with the current inhabitant of the Oval Office.
“Five years ago, I went to Washington, to Congress, because I was forced to oppose a plan proposed by the American president, because I believed that this plan endangered Israel’s most vital security needs and indeed its very existence,” he says, referring to the 2015 Iran nuclear deal that Obama championed.
At the time, Netanyahu addressed a joint meeting of US Congress to advocate against the deal.
“Today, I am going to Washington to stand next to an American president who is proposing a deal that, I believe, advances Israel’s most vital security,” Netanyahu says, referring to Trump’s so-called Deal of the Century.
The deal, which is expected to be released on Tuesday, has been deemed the most pro-Israel outline for Middle East peace ever presented by a US administration.
Also today, Netanyahu’s main political rival, Blue and White party chief Benny Gantz, took off for Washington for a separate meeting with the US president.
Both Netanyahu and Gantz are scheduled to meet with Trump in the White House tomorrow.
This article has been adapted from its original source.
