Willie on Nostr: Israel prepares Lebanon cease-fire plan as ‘gift’ to Trump, officials say An ...

Israel prepares Lebanon cease-fire plan as ‘gift’ to Trump, officials say
An Israeli government minister discussed the proposal with Trump and Jared Kushner at Mar-a-Lago on Sunday before traveling to the White House for talks.


A poster of Hasan Nasrallah, the deceased leader of Hezbollah, hangs over a market area in Nabatieh, Lebanon, that has been pummeled by multiple Israeli airstrikes. (Ed Ram/Getty Images)
By Shira Rubin, Suzan Haidamous and John Hudson
November 13, 2024 at 3:48 p.m. ET
TEL AVIV — A close aide to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told Donald Trump and Jared Kushner this week that Israel is rushing to advance a cease-fire deal in Lebanon, according to three current and former Israeli officials briefed on the meeting, with the aim of delivering an early foreign policy win to the president-elect.
Ron Dermer, Netanyahu’s minister of strategic affairs, made Mar-a-Lago the first stop on his U.S. tour Sunday before traveling to the White House to update Biden administration officials on the state of Lebanon talks, a sign of how swiftly America’s political center of gravity has shifted after Trump’s electoral victory.
“There is an understanding that Israel would gift something to Trump … that in January there will be an understanding about Lebanon,” said an Israeli official. Like others in this article, the official spoke to The Washington Post on the condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive conversations.
Dermer’s spokesman told The Post that he discussed a wide range of issues during his trip but did not elaborate. Netanyahu’s office and a spokesperson for Trump declined to comment. Kushner’s spokesperson did not reply to a request for comment.


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. It is unclear what impact, if any, the Lebanon proposal discussed at Mar-a-Lago would have on stalled cease-fire and hostage release talks in Gaza.
“Netanyahu has no loyalty to Biden and will be focused entirely on currying favor with Trump,” said Frank Lowenstein, a former special envoy for Israeli-Palestinian negotiations under President Barack Obama who served during the transition to the first Trump administration. If 2016 is any indication, he added, “Trump won’t hesitate to act like he’s already president when he sees an opportunity.”

President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announce an Israeli-Palestinian peace proposal at the White House on Jan. 28, 2020. (Jabin Botsford/The Washington Post)
Netanyahu said in a video statement Sunday that he had talked to Trump three times in recent days and that the two saw “major opportunities ahead for Israel, especially in advancing peace” — a striking statement after more than a year of devastating war in Gaza and six weeks after Israel broadened its military campaign against Hezbollah by sending ground troops into southern Lebanon.
The Israeli prime minister was planning for a new era in Washington well before Election Day on Nov. 5. #Netanyahu had been in regular contact with Trump, according to the Israeli official, and Dermer with Kushner, who helped broker normalization agreements between four Arab nations and Israel during Trump’s first term and maintains personal and financial ties to the region.

Kushner is expected to play an advisory role in the event of future negotiations over Israeli normalization with Saudi Arabia, even if he is not appointed to a formal White House position, according to a former Trump official.

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