Netanyahu brings a familiar message to Trump, who’s grown wary of Israeli actions

West Palm Beach, Florida (CNN) — Repeatedly this year, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has flown to the United States to praise President Donald Trump as Israel’s greatest champion — and to quietly press him on taking more aggressive action against Israel’s enemies.

On Monday, when Netanyahu meets Trump at his estate in Palm Beach, Florida, the message will be similar: He is looking for a tougher approach to Hamas in Gaza, and is warning of new advancements in Iran’s ballistic missile program.

Yet the reception this time may be different. Trump, who promised he would act as a president of peace, has been wary of some Israeli actions in recent months, including strikes in Syria. He is mindful of American public sentiment, which hasn’t favored becoming mired in another Middle Eastern war.

A tenuous Gaza ceasefire that Trump proudly traveled to the region to finalize in October is being tested by continued deadly Israeli operations in the Palestinian enclave and a slow process to move to the second phase of the deal.

And despite many flashy demonstrations of friendship — including Trump’s extraordinary call for Israel’s president to pardon Netanyahu amid corruption charges — the relationship between the men has, at moments, become strained over differences in how they view foreign policy in the region.

“I think both both of these guys don’t trust one another. I’m not even sure they like one another. But the reality is they need one another. Trump needs Netanyahu to avoid his much-touted 28-point-plan in Gaza from cratering. And Netanyahu desperately needs the president of the United States, in order to manage growing calls for his resignation,” said Aaron David Miller, a former Middle East negotiator now at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.

“Mutual need creates a certain amount of dependency,” he said. “This may not be a great meeting, but it’s not going to crater.”

The Monday meeting at Mar-a-Lago marks the second day in a row Trump has hosted a foreign leader to discuss peace over his holiday vacation, after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky visited the estate Sunday.

More than two months after Trump traveled to Egypt to sign the Gaza peace agreement, crucial pieces of the deal remain undefined as Israel tightens its military grip on the battered enclave.

The second phase of the deal includes Hamas’ disarmament, the beginning of reconstruction, and the establishment of post-war governance. At the center of the new plan for administering Gaza is the creation of a “Board of Peace” to be led by Trump and other world leaders.

“It’ll be one of the most legendary boards ever. Everybody wants to be on it,” Trump said at the White House earlier this month.

The US is pushing to move quickly into the next phase, and wants to announce more specifics on the governance of Gaza and a new international stabilization force.

But Israel has been reluctant to further withdraw from Gaza without Hamas disarming. That has created tension with some White House advisers, who believe Netanyahu could be slow-walking the move to the next phase, according to people familiar with the matter.

“Israel has had no better friend in its history than President Trump,” White House deputy press secretary Anna Kelly said in a statement ahead of the meeting.

“We continue to work closely with our ally Israel to successfully implement the President’s 20 Point Plan for Peace and strengthen regional security in the Middle East,” Kelly said.

Trump and Netanyahu have been at odds over the last year on other issues. When Israel struck Hamas leaders inside Qatar — a key US ally — in September, Trump was furious since it threatened to undermine his Gaza peace efforts. Qatar had been working as an important interlocutor between Hamas, the US and Israel for peace negotiations.

Later, during an Oval Office meeting, Trump insisted Netanyahu apologize to Qatari leaders, even holding the telephone on his lap as the prime minister placed the call.

Divides exist in other areas as well. On Syria, Trump’s embrace of President Ahmed al-Sharaa, a former jihadist, contrasts with Israel’s determination to maintain a buffer zone. On Lebanon, Washington has been pushing for diplomacy, while Israel doubts Beirut’s ability to restrain Hezbollah without another military campaign.

Iran also remains a critical flashpoint, even after the “12-day war” that saw Trump ordering bunker-buster bombs dropped on Iranian nuclear facilities. Israel is closely monitoring Tehran’s nuclear enrichment and is growingly concerned with its ballistic missile activities.

“As he has repeatedly stated in his first and second terms, the President is committed to ensuring Iran never obtains a nuclear weapon,” Kelly said.

Despite their differences, however, the two men have rarely publicly broken. Trump has bemoaned the corruption investigations into Netanyahu, suggesting they were a distraction from his wartime efforts.

When Trump spoke to Israel’s Knesset in October, he publicly appealed to Israeli President Isaac Herzog for a pardon.

“Hey, I have an idea, Mr. President — why don’t you give him a pardon?” Trump asked, dismissing Netanyahu’s corruption charges as trivial matters of “cigars and champagne.”

CNN’s Tal Shalev contributed to this report.

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