Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is to meet with U.S. President Donald Trump this week in Washington. The meeting comes as Netanyahu's Likud party is lagging in opinion polls ahead of elections next month.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his chief rival, former chief of staff, Benny Gantz are speaking at the American Israel Public Affairs Committee meeting this week in Washington.

 

 But only Netanyahu is scheduled to meet with President Donald Trump and attend a state dinner at the White House.

 

 Trump announced a change in American policy on the Golan Heights, which Israel seized from Syria in 1967 and later annexed. Trump tweeted last week that the United States recognizes Israeli sovereignty over the territory, and later explained in the move in an interview with Fox News Business. He compared it to his decision last year to recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel.



 "I was inundated with calls from the leaders. Mostly the leaders saying, 'Please do not do it'. I did it. It has been done and it is fine. Golan Heights is the same thing ... This is sovereignty. This is security, regional security, so it is not about Netanyahu's re-election. No, I would not know about that," said Trump.

Netanyahu is facing a series of corruption allegations, and the latest opinion polls show the new Blue and White Party headed by Gant edging past Netanyahu's Likud.

The Israeli prime minister has stressed his close relationship with Trump, and he lauded close U.S.-Israel ties in a meeting with Secretary of State Mike Pompeo last week.

 

 "Our alliance in recent years has never been stronger," he said. "It is an unbreakable bond. It is based on shared values of liberty and democracy and shared interest to fight the enemies of democracy, the enemies of our way of life, the terrorists that prowl our airspace and our countries, and working together we have been able to achieve an enormous amount."

 

 Netanyahu also thanked the United States for walking away from what he called the “disastrous” Iran nuclear deal. </s> WASHINGTON (AP) — The Latest on Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's visit to Washington (all times local):

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (neh-ten-YAH'-hoo) is asking President Donald Trump for permission to share Israeli wine with White House staff.

And the Israeli leader is joking that he hopes "they don't open an investigation" as a result. Back home, Netanyahu is facing a pending indictment on corruption charges.

And Trump has been the subject of numerous investigations, but is claiming vindication following the release of a summary of special counsel Robert Mueller's report.

Netanyahu made the offer after Trump signed a proclamation recognizing Israel's sovereignty over the Golan Heights.

Netanyahu says he brought Trump a case "of the finest wine from the Golan." But he says Trump, who doesn't drink alcohol, is "not a great wine drinker," and that he wanted to give the wine to Trump's staff instead.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (neh-ten-YAH'-hoo) says Israel is "responding forcefully" to a morning rocket attack in central part of the Jewish state.

Israel's military says it's started striking Hamas targets in the Gaza Strip after a rocket hit a house north Tel Aviv and wounded seven people.

Netanyahu spoke during a meeting at the White House with President Donald Trump, who later signed an official proclamation formally recognizing Israel's sovereignty over the Golan Heights.

Netanyahu calls the rocket attack "wanton aggression" and says "Israel will not tolerate this. I will not tolerate it."

The prime minister says he plans to return to Israel after the meeting with Trump.

President Donald Trump has signed a proclamation recognizing Israel's sovereignty over the Golan Heights.

The document reverses more than a half-century of U.S. policy as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (neh-ten-YAH'-hoo) visited the White House.

Trump had previewed the move in a tweet last week that it was time for the U.S. to take the step after 52 years of Israeli control of the strategic highlands on the border with Syria.

Netanyahu has pressed for such recognition for months. Trump's action gives him a political boost just weeks before what's expected to be a close Israeli election.

Israel captured the Golan from Syria in the 1967 Mideast war but its sovereignty over the territory is not recognized by the international community.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (neh-ten-YAH'-hoo) says he's cutting short his visit to Washington after a Gaza rocket attack on Israel.

Netanyahu describes Monday morning's rocket launch that struck a home in central Israel as a "criminal attack" and he's pledging to strike back hard. He says he'll return to Israel to handle the crisis shortly after his meeting with President Donald Trump.

An Israeli rescue service says the rocket from the Gaza Strip wounded seven people.

Netanyahu arrived in Washington on Sunday for what was to have been a three-day visit. He was going to speak at the American Israel Public Affairs Committee's policy conference and was to be hosted at a White House dinner. </s> Israeli leader to leave US early because of Gaza attack

WASHINGTON (AP) — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (neh-ten-YAH'-hoo) says he's cutting short his visit to Washington after a Gaza rocket attack on Israel.

Netanyahu described Monday morning's rocket launch that struck a home in central Israel as a "criminal attack" and vowed to strike back hard. He says he will return to Israel to handle the crisis shortly after meeting with President Donald Trump on Monday.

An Israeli rescue service says the rocket from the Gaza Strip wounded seven people.

Netanyahu arrived in Washington on Sunday for what was to have been a three-day visit. He was going to speak at the American Israel Public Affairs Committee and was to be hosted at a White House dinner. </s> Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he was cutting his trip to the U.S. short after a rocket strike from Gaza hit a home north of Tel Aviv and injured several people, according to Reuters.

“In light of the security events I decided to cut short my visit to the U.S.,” he told Reuters.

Netanyahu, who had arrived Sunday for a four-day visit, will still meet with President Trump today before boarding his return flight to Israel this afternoon.

The rocket from Gaza landed on a home in the small agricultural town of Mishmeret, north of Tel Aviv, in early morning hours.

A military spokesman told The Wall Street Journal that Israel’s Iron Dome rocket interception system had not been deployed in the area and was unable to bring down the rocket.

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It left one house destroyed in addition to the surrounding damage.

Reuters reported one infant, a 3-year-old boy, a 12-year-old girl and 60-year-old woman were among those being treated for injuries.

Gaza had not claimed responsibility for the rocket but was reported to be preparing for retaliation.

“There was a criminal attack on the state of Israel and we will respond forcefully,” Netanyahu said in a video statement sent to The Wall Street Journal.

The border along Israel and Gaza just marked one year of continued border protests.

President Trump recently expressed support for Israel’s sovereignty over the Golan Heights, and is reportedly planning to make that statement official by signing a decree during today’s meeting, according to Reuters.

Netanyahu is running for an unprecedented fifth term.

The prime minister’s chief political rival, Benny Gantz, immediately issued a statement accusing Netanyahu of having “bankrupted national security” by permitting such attacks.

The election will be held Tuesday, April 9.

A version of this article appeared on The Daily Caller News Foundation website.

We are committed to truth and accuracy in all of our journalism. Read our editorial standards. </s> Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he was cutting his trip to the U.S. short after a rocket strike from Gaza hit a home north of Tel Aviv and injured several people, according to Reuters.

“In light of the security events I decided to cut short my visit to the U.S.,” he told Reuters.

Netanyahu, who had arrived Sunday for a four-day visit, will still meet with President Trump today before boarding his return flight to Israel this afternoon.

The rocket from Gaza landed on a home in the small agricultural town of Mishmeret, north of Tel Aviv, in early morning hours.

A military spokesman told The Wall Street Journal that Israel’s Iron Dome rocket interception system had not been deployed in the area and was unable to bring down the rocket.

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It left one house destroyed in addition to the surrounding damage.

Reuters reported one infant, a 3-year-old boy, a 12-year-old girl and 60-year-old woman were among those being treated for injuries.

Gaza had not claimed responsibility for the rocket but was reported to be preparing for retaliation.

“There was a criminal attack on the state of Israel and we will respond forcefully,” Netanyahu said in a video statement sent to The Wall Street Journal.

The border along Israel and Gaza just marked one year of continued border protests.

President Trump recently expressed support for Israel’s sovereignty over the Golan Heights, and is reportedly planning to make that statement official by signing a decree during today’s meeting, according to Reuters.

Netanyahu is running for an unprecedented fifth term.

The prime minister’s chief political rival, Benny Gantz, immediately issued a statement accusing Netanyahu of having “bankrupted national security” by permitting such attacks.

The election will be held Tuesday, April 9.

A version of this article appeared on The Daily Caller News Foundation website.

We are committed to truth and accuracy in all of our journalism. Read our editorial standards. </s> TEL AVIV – Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu landed in Moscow early on Thursday for a brief trip during which he is expected to discuss Syria and Iran with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

A planned event with Moscow’s Jewish community was cancelled and the Israeli premier will now return home on the same day after meeting with his Russian counterpart.

Israeli media reported that the trip was cut short over the indictment announcement that Attorney General Avichai Mandelblit is expected to make in the coming days. Netanyahu is said to want to be in Israel to deal with any potential fallout when Mandelblit publishes his conclusions on the three corruption cases faced by the prime minister.

Netanyahu said his talks with Putin were “very important” for Israel’s security and would focus on Iran’s attempts to entrench itself militarily in Syria.

“We are taking action against [Iran], we are attacking its bases and we will continue acting against it,” he said.

“We will continue acting until we get the Iranians out of Syria, because Iran is threatening to eradicate Israel and we will not let it have a military base near our border,” he added.

Netanyahu stated that he hoped to strengthen the “important, close and even intimate dialogue with the president of Russia, which is so important for the security of Israel.”

Putin, however, is reportedly seeking to spend at least some of the meeting discussing the conflict with the Palestinians.

The meeting marks the first time the two leaders have sat down for a formal meeting since Russia blamed Israel for the downing of its plane by Syrian air defenses and is also the first face-to-face since the Trump administration announced it was withdrawing U.S. troops from Syria.

Netanyahu has met with Putin more than any other world leader. </s> When presidents, prime ministers and foreign ministers visit the Holy Land, the script is simple: a trip to the Israeli Prime Minister's office in Jerusalem, and then off to Ramallah to meet the Palestinian leader.

But that script has been torn up in anger by the Palestinians for U.S. Vice-President Mike Pence's four-day visit to the Middle East.

"He is not welcome," said Hani Baidoun, a resident of East Jerusalem who has fought for an independent state for the Palestinians for much of his life. "[Pence] is against the position of the Palestinians."

Mahmoud Abbas, the Palestinian Authority president, has refused to meet with Pence, enraged by the decision by U.S. President Donald Trump to recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel. Trump also began the process of moving the American embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.

"May your house be destroyed," an angry Abbas told Trump during a fiery speech before Palestinian leaders last week, in which he also refused to work with the United States as a mediator in future negotiations with the Israelis.

The Pence visit comes six weeks after the vice-president stood next to his boss in the White House as Trump reversed decades of American policy that the status of Jerusalem should be decided in talks between both sides.

That declaration saw Palestinians take to the streets in protest, in the Gaza Strip and the occupied West Bank. Some of those demonstrations turned violent, with the UN Office for the Co-ordination of Humanitarian Affairs reporting that 14 Palestinians were killed in clashes and Israeli airstrikes in the three weeks after Trump made his speech.

The policy shift continues to roil the Middle East, and has forced Pence to explain the U.S. position to two important regional allies, Egypt and Jordan, the only neighbours of Israel that have diplomatic relations with the Jewish State.

After meeting Egypt's president Abdul Fattah el-Sisi on Saturday, Pence said there is a "disagreement between friends," but he noted "that nothing has changed and that we are absolutely committed to building a partnership for security, confronting terrorism together, but also finding ways that we can advance the peace process."

Right now, that process is stalled, despite Trump's declaration that he wants to negotiate the "ultimate deal" between the Israelis and Palestinians even in the face of deep divisions over Jerusalem.

Israel views the city as its eternal and undivided capital, and its leaders have heaped praise on Trump for recognizing what they say is an inevitable truth: that with Israel's parliament and government offices located in Jerusalem, it's only right to bestow this recognition.

"It's declaring what we already know, but it shows to the world that this is the capital of Israel," said Jerusalem resident Lisa Nemets. "So we stand with that."

The vice-president is scheduled to speak before the Israeli parliament, the Knesset, on Monday afternoon. Pence will be given a warm welcome by Israeli lawmakers, although Arab members of parliament are boycotting the address.

Palestinians want to establish the capital of a future state in East Jerusalem, and on Sunday they received a boost from King Abdullah II of Jordan, who voiced his backing of "East Jerusalem as the capital of an independent Palestinian state."

Canada, like most nations with diplomatic relations with Israel, has committed to keeping its diplomatic mission in Tel Aviv until the final status of Jerusalem has been settled in negotiations. At least one other country, Guatemala, is following the American lead after the Central American nation announced it will move its embassy to Jerusalem.

The relationship between the Trump administration and the Palestinians suffered yet another blow last week, when the United States decided to withhold $65 million in funding for UNRWA, the UN Relief and Works Agency that assists Palestinian refugees, raising fears that schools and medical clinics could face cuts.

Hanan Ashrawi, a senior member of the PLO, the Palestine Liberation Organization, accused the United States of "punishing the most vulnerable populations" and "destabilizing neighbouring countries of Jordan, Syria and Lebanon."

Pence was scheduled to travel to the Middle East in mid-December, but the trip was delayed because of a tax vote in the U.S. Senate. He has said the visit is an opportunity to discuss American concerns about the international agreement to limit Iran's nuclear program and to fight religious persecution of Christians in the region.

An evangelical Christian who famously said he is "a Christian, a conservative and a Republican, in that order," Pence was supposed to go to the Biblical town of Bethlehem, but that has also been scrapped from the itinerary.

Evangelical Christians remain some of Trump's strongest supporters, and some political watchers say his decision on Jerusalem was aimed at keeping that part of his base happy. They see the move as standing in support of Israel, as well as fulfilling a Biblical prophecy.

Brian Parsons, the vice-president of the International Christian Embassy in Jerusalem, hailed Trump's declaration as "courageous."

He added in an interview with CBC News: "We think that the Pence visit is another expression of solidarity with Israel, which we think is very needed. Too often the world gangs up on Israel and bullies Israel in very unfair ways."

But PLO member Ashrawi, who is Christian, took aim at Pence, said in an interview that his "evangelical extremist fundamentalist Christianity… goes against the whole tradition of pluralism and tolerance and inclusion.

"That's why I don't believe he should come here." </s> Fearing a new eruption of violence in the Middle East, more than 70 world diplomats gathered in Paris on Sunday to push for renewed peace talks that would lead to a Palestinian state.

The conference is meant to be a forceful message to U.S. President-elect Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that much of the world wants peace and sees a two-state solution as the best way to achieve it in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

"A two-state solution is the only possible one," French Foreign Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault said in opening the conference, calling it "more indispensable than ever" to solve the protracted conflict.

Netanyahu has snubbed Sunday's conference as "rigged" against Israel, and Trump's incoming administration isn't taking part.

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The gathering is an "empty summit" that was cooked up behind Israel's back and is designed to force conditions on the country that are against its national interests, Netanyahu said.

French diplomats fear Trump will unleash new tensions in the region by condoning settlements on land claimed by the Palestinians and potentially moving the U.S. Embassy from Tel Aviv to contested Jerusalem.

"Both parties are very far apart and their relationship is one of distrust — a particularly dangerous situation," Ayrault said at the conference. "Our collective responsibility is to bring Israelis and Palestinians back to the negotiating table. We know it is difficult, but is there an alternative? No, there isn't."

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry is in Paris defending American interests at the conference, in his last major diplomatic foray before he leaves office. It marks the end of eight years of failed U.S. efforts at Israeli-Palestinian diplomacy.

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Netanyahu declined an invitation to a special meeting after the conference, and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas was initially expected, but his visit to Paris was postponed.

The Israeli prime minister said the gathering would do little to promote peace and marks the "last flutters of yesterday's world."

"Tomorrow will look different and tomorrow is very close," he said in apparent reference to Trump's incoming administration.

According to a draft statement obtained by The Associated Press on Friday, the conference will urge Israel and the Palestinians "to officially restate their commitment to the two-state solution."

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It also will affirm that the international community "will not recognize" changes to Israel's pre-1967 lines without agreement by both sides.

The final conference declaration also may warn Trump against moving the embassy, a move that could be seen as recognizing Jerusalem as Israel's capital after decades of insisting that the city's status must be determined by direct negotiations.

Israeli and Palestinian leaders have not negotiated even indirectly since a failed U.S.-led peace effort in 2014.

While the conference was underway, a few hundred pro-Israel demonstrators, waving Israeli flags and placards denouncing the summit, gathered outside Israel's embassy in Paris.

"The Palestinians and a number of Arab states have not expressed a will for peace," Serge Klarsfeld, a well-known famous French Nazi hunter, said. "If it existed and if the Arab world recognized the existence of Israel, we would find the means to solve all the problems very quickly."

The demonstrators loudly booed French lawmaker Pierre Lellouche when he took the podium and declared himself in favor of a "two-state solution" and the halting of Jewish settlements in the Palestinian territories.

Ariel Goldmann, president of the French Jewish association Fonds Social Juif Unifié, called the gathering a "mockery of dialogue, a mockery of peace, a historical mockery." Goldmann said he was "sad that France is lending itself to such a maneuver." </s> Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will meet with Donald Trump in Washington on Monday amid expectations the US president will formally recognize the Jewish state's sovereignty over the Golan Heights.

Trump broke with longstanding international consensus last week over the status of the Golan Heights, which Israel seized from Syria in the 1967 Six Day War, saying the US should recognize Israeli sovereignty over the strategic plateau.

Israel's foreign minister said the US president will go one step further on Monday when he welcomes a grateful Netanyahu -- who is looking for an electoral boost ahead of April 9 parliamentary polls -- to the White House.

"President Trump will sign tomorrow in the presence of PM Netanyahu an order recognizing Israeli sovereignty over the Golan Heights," Israel Katz tweeted.

Netanyahu has long pushed for such recognition, and many analysts saw Trump's statement, which came in a tweet on Thursday, as a campaign gift.

Netanyahu is locked in a tough election fight with a centrist political alliance headed by former military chief Benny Gantz and ex-finance minister Yair Lapid.

New opinion polls last week showed Netanyahu losing ground to his electoral rivals, and the Washington visit was seen as an opportunity to regain momentum.

The prime minister has a "working meeting" at the White House on Monday and a dinner on Tuesday.

Netanyahu is also set to address the annual conference in Washington of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) on Tuesday. Gantz speaks at the high-profile event on Monday.

The Golan Heights decision is the latest major move in favor of Israel by Trump, who in 2017 recognized the disputed city of Jerusalem as the country's capital.

Syria and other states in the region condemned Trump's pledge, saying it violates international law. France said the same.

Israel annexed the Golan Heights in 1981 in a move never recognized by the international community.

Netanyahu phoned Trump to tell him he had made "history," and called the gesture a "Purim miracle," a reference to the Jewish holiday that Israel was celebrating that day.

Although Trump professed no knowledge of the Israeli politics in play, Netanyahu's relationship with the US president has long been a central feature of his campaign.

Trump appears on giant campaign billboards in Israel shaking hands and smiling with Netanyahu, and the premier has shared video of the US leader calling him "strong" and a "winner."

On the same day as Trump's Golan Heights tweet, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo was in Jerusalem, where he joined Netanyahu in a visit to the historic Western Wall, offering his host a prime pre-election photo opportunity.

It was the first time such a high-ranking American official had visited one of the holiest sites in Judaism, located in mainly Palestinian east Jerusalem, with an Israeli premier.

Trump relies on pro-Israel evangelical Christians as part of his electoral base and has moved US policy firmly in Israel's favor.
As a result, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu cuts his four-day trip to the United States short after meeting with U.S. President Donald Trump.