Israeli prime minister and international fugitive Benjamin Netanyahu is the first foreign leader to be hosted in Washington, D.C., by President Donald Trump. They are meeting in the wake of a barrage of chaotic and conflicting messages by Trump on what he believes should happen in Gaza and the West Bank.

Without a doubt, Trump wants to preside over a normalization agreement between Saudi Arabia and Israel, though the Saudis have said they will not enter into such a deal without a credible process to create an independent Palestinian state. Israeli officials have made clear Netanyahu wants to push Trump to fully embrace his position that Hamas should be wiped out completely and there are indications the Israeli leader does not want the so-called ceasefire to move to the second phase—which envisions a withdrawal of Israeli forces, further exchange of captives and discussions on a large reconstruction plan for Gaza—or toward an actual rebuilding of Gaza. 

All of this happens as Palestinians continue to return to an apocalyptic scene in the north of the Gaza Strip and Israel continues to intensify its attacks against the West Bank. Mouin Rabbani and Dr. Annelle Sheline join Jeremy Scahill to discuss. Mouin Rabbani is the co-editor of Jadaliyya and non-resident fellow at both DAWN and Middle East Council on Global Affairs, and a former UN official who worked as a special adviser on Israel-Palestine for the International Crisis Group. Dr. Annelle Sheline is a research fellow in the Middle East program at the Quincy Institute. She served as a foreign affairs officer at the U.S. Department of State until resigning in March 2024 over the Biden administration's Gaza policy.

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International Fugitive Benjamin Netanyahu Goes to Washington