By Cecilia Odey
Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, has said he is set to visit the White House on Monday for the second time since U.S. President Donald Trump took office in January.
Netanyahu, is the first foreign leader to meet with Trump following his announcement of new global tariffs, said they would discuss efforts to return the remaining Israeli hostages from Gaza.
Also the hostages from Iran and the arrest warrant issued by the International Criminal Court (ICC) against Netanyahu as well as the tariff issue.
The U.S. is Israel’s most important ally and yet the country was not exempt from the sweeping new tariffs announced by Trump last week.
It announced with additional duties of 17per cent to be slapped on Israeli imports from Wednesday.
Israeli forces have resumed combat operations in the Gaza Strip in an effort to crush Palestinian extremist group Hamas and force the release of the remaining hostages, after negotiations to extend the previous ceasefire failed.
Netanyahu’s visit to Washington came on the heels of a trip to Hungary last week.
Netanyahu faced an ICC arrest warrant over alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza.
Hungary, a member of the court, did not take the Israeli premier into custody, instead announced plans to withdraw from the ICC.
Trump received Netanyahu at the beginning of February in what was seen as a gesture of support for the embattled Israeli prime minister, who had drawn strong international criticism over the ongoing Gaza war.
During that visit, Trump said he intended it was his dream for U.S. to take control of the war-ravaged Gaza Strip to develop the region.
Under his plan, Gazans were to be resettled to Arab nations and the territory to be transformed into the “Riviera of the Middle East.’’
(dpa/NAN)
