Netanyahu works behind the scenes to win Trump back
Photo illustration: Aïda Amer/Axios. Photos: Abir Sultan/Pool/AFP and Brandon Bell/Getty Images
Years of efforts by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to mend relations with former President Trump may have shown some progress in the wake of the assassination attempt against Trump.
The big picture: Netanyahu allies have met with Trump on at least four occasions over the past three years to try to repair ties, which deteriorated after Netanyahu congratulated Biden for his victory in the 2020 election.
- One went so far as to bring a copy of Netanyahu's book to Mar-a-Lago and read passages praising Trump, according to a Netanyahu aide.
- "But every time we thought we managed to put this behind us we discovered that it didn't work and that Trump was still angry," the aide told Axios
Why it matters: Netanyahu aides worry relations won't be as close if Trump wins in November as they were during his first term.
- They were encouraged, however, that after Netanyahu sent Trump a video condemning Saturday's assassination attempt, Trump posted it on Truth Social.
Flashback: In a 2021 interview for my book "Trump's Peace," Trump accused Netanyahu of disloyalty for accepting Biden's win rather than backing his fraud claims despite all he'd done for Israel and Netanyahu personally.
- "I haven't spoken to him since," Trump said. "F**k him."
- Trump said he still liked Netanyahu personally. Still, he expressed other grievances, claiming Netanyahu's government wasn't serious about peace with the Palestinians and didn't play an active enough role in the assassination of Iranian Gen. Qasem Soleimani, leaving the U.S. to take the risk.
State of play: Since the Oct. 7 attacks in Israel and the war in Gaza, Trump has expressed public support for Israel but not for Netanyahu.
- A former Trump adviser told Axios that Trump was disappointed in Netanyahu after the election and also has concerns about the failures that led to Oct. 7.
- Still, the adviser said Trump will be able to work with Netanyahu if they're both in office come January.
- Prior to the assassination attempt, another former Trump administration official told Axios Netanyahu shouldn't expect an invitation to visit the White House as early in Trump's second term as he got in 2017.
- A spokesperson for Trump's campaign didn't respond to questions for this story.
Driving the news: Netanyahu was one of the first world leaders to issue a statement condemning the assassination attempt against Trump, and followed up with at least three additional statements and social media posts expressing solidarity.
- "Like all Israelis, my wife Sara and I were shocked by the horrific assassination attempt on the life of President Donald Trump," Netanyahu said in his video message.
- He stressed it wasn't just an attack on Trump but an attack on America and on democracy, and wished Trump "continued strength" on behalf of Israel.
Behind the scenes: Netanyahu's team posted the video online and also sent it directly to Trump's team.
- One of Netanyahu's aides said it was strategic from Netanyahu to refer to Trump as "President Trump" not "former President Trump" in the video.
- "We were told that Trump watched it," a Netanyahu aide said.
- Then came Trump's post on Truth Social.
What to watch: Two Netanyahu aides told Axios they're optimistic relations can be fixed.
- One even suggested that one person who might be able to help is Elon Musk — who has a good relationship with Netanyahu and earlier this week endorsed Trump for president.
What's next: Netanyahu is expected to visit Washington next week to meet President Biden and address Congress.
- There is no plan at the moment to meet Trump during the trip, according to a Netanyahu aide.