Ron Dermer, Netanyahu's minister of strategic affairs, made Mar-a-Lago the first stop on his US tour Sunday before traveling to the White House to update Biden administration officials on the state of Lebanon talks, The Washington Post reported.
Trump has said he wants to bring an end to the wars in the Middle East, but he also told Netanyahu in a call last month to do what you have to do against Hezbollah and Hamas, according to The Washington Post.
Trump told Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas during a phone call on November 8 - their first since 2017 - that he will work to end the war in Gaza, according to a statement from the Palestinian presidency and a Palestinian official briefed on the call, Axios reported.
Liu Zhongmin, a professor at the Middle East Studies Institute of Shanghai International Studies University, told the Global Times on Thursday that Netanyahu has a motivation for making this kind of diplomatic gesture, considering the sound Israel-US ties in Trump's previous term.
Trump moved the US embassy to the city of Jerusalem in 2018 and recognized Israel's occupation of Syria's Golan Heights the following year, Newsweek reported.
Liu said Israel has been conducting talks with multiple parties, and by proposing a possible Lebanon ceasefire in a gesture of goodwill, the Netanyahu administration will seek a stronger US security commitment with regard to Iran in exchange.
Though a ceasefire in Lebanon direction is possible, Liu predicts the next two months will be fight and talk with scaled-down severity of strikes.
In parallel with Dermer's diplomatic blitz, the Israel Defense Forces are preparing for a second phase of their ground operation, according to an Israeli military official, in case talks fall apart, while in recent days, Israel's air force has pummeled Lebanon with strikes, Washington Post reported.
Since Israel's strategic objectives have yet to be met, Liu also pointed out that even if a ceasefire in Lebanon can be realized, regional conflicts have become so extensive and complicated that such a delicate deal can be torn apart easily given the low security trust in the region.
作者 | 刘中民，上海外国语大学中东研究所教授、中国中东学会副会长。
出处 | Global Times，2024年11月15日第3版。
