PALM BEACH, Florida (Reuters) -Former U.S. President Donald Trump said his relationship with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had always been warm as the two leaders met on Friday, and the Israeli leader said he hoped progress was being made in talks on a Gaza ceasefire.
Netanyahu traveled to Mar-a-Lago, Trump’s Florida resort, to meet Trump, the Republican nominee in the 2024 U.S. presidential race, after meeting Democratic President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris, who is running against Trump in the Nov. 5 U.S. election.
Trump greeted Netanyahu and his wife Sara and criticized Harris, who had voiced concern in public comments after meeting the Israeli leader about the toll on Palestinian civilians from Israel’s 9-month-old campaign in Gaza.
“I think her remarks were disrespectful,” Trump said.
Netanyahu said he hoped his U.S. trip would lead to a quicker ceasefire deal.
“I hope so. But I think time will tell,” he told reporters. He said he thought there had been movement in efforts to forge a ceasefire because of Israeli military pressure and said he would dispatch a team to talks in Rome.
Trump dismissed any suggestion of tensions with Netanyahu.
“We have a very good relationship,” he said, noting policy changes during his presidency including moving the U.S. embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem and pulling the United States out of the international nuclear deal with Iran.
Netanyahu had angered Trump when he congratulated Biden on his victory over Trump in the 2020 election. Trump falsely claims the election was stolen from him by voter fraud.
Trump more recently criticized Netanyahu for Israeli security failures that enabled Hamas to carry out an Oct. 7 attack on Israel that triggered the Israeli offensive in Gaza.
Opinion polls put Harris and Trump in a close race for the White House, prompting world leaders like Netanyahu, traditionally more aligned with Trump’s Republicans than Biden’s Democrats, to strike a balance in dealings with the U.S.
HUMANITARIAN SITUATION A ‘SERIOUS CONCERN,’ HARRIS SAYS
Harris had pressed Netanyahu on the suffering of Palestinians in the enclave in talks on Thursday that were watched for signs of how she might shift American policy if she becomes president.
“I made clear my serious concern about the dire humanitarian situation there,” Harris said. “I will not be silent.”
“Israel has a right to defend itself. And how it does so matters,” she said.
An unnamed Israeli official said it was to be hoped that Harris’ comments would not be interpreted by Hamas as indicating a gap between the United States and Israel “and thus push a deal into the distance.”
In defiant remarks to Congress on Wednesday, Netanyahu defended Israel’s military and dismissed criticism of a campaign which has devastated Gaza and killed more than 39,000 people, according to health officials in the Hamas-ruled enclave.
Dozens of Democrats boycotted Netanyahu’s speech to Congress on Wednesday, voicing dismay over the thousands of civilian deaths in Gaza and the displacement of most of its 2.3 million people.
In Wednesday’s speech, Netanyahu praised Biden’s support for Israel.
But to cheers from Republicans, he touched on Trump’s pro-Israel record as president. He praised Trump’s decision to move the U.S. embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, a long-held goal of conservatives that infuriated Palestinians.
He also cited the Abraham Accords, landmark U.S.-brokered agreements signed during Trump’s White House years that normalized bilateral relations between Israel and both Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates.
Hamas and its allies killed 1,200 people and took 250 hostage in the Oct. 7 attack, according to Israeli tallies. Some 115 hostages are still being held though Israel believes one in three are dead.
Israeli officials estimate that some 14,000 fighters from militant groups including Hamas and Islamic Jihad have been killed or taken prisoner out of a force they estimated to number more than 25,000 at the start of the war.
(Reporting by Maria Alejandra Cardona in Palm Beach and Patricia Zengerle in Washington, writing by Patricia Zengerle; Additional reporting by Matt Spetalnick; Editing by Don Durfee and Howard Goller)
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