Netanyahu’s Envoy in Washington to Discuss Deal ‘Acceptable’ by Biden, Trump

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu receives US Presidential Envoy Amos Hochstein before their final meeting in the Prime Minister’s Office in Jerusalem (dpa)
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu receives US Presidential Envoy Amos Hochstein before their final meeting in the Prime Minister’s Office in Jerusalem (dpa)
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Netanyahu’s Envoy in Washington to Discuss Deal ‘Acceptable’ by Biden, Trump

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu receives US Presidential Envoy Amos Hochstein before their final meeting in the Prime Minister’s Office in Jerusalem (dpa)
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu receives US Presidential Envoy Amos Hochstein before their final meeting in the Prime Minister’s Office in Jerusalem (dpa)

Israel's Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer is in Washington for four days to hold talks with representatives of the Joe Biden administration and representatives of President-elect Donald Trump, on reaching a ceasefire agreement with Lebanon that would be satisfactory to both administrations.
Dermer, Netanyahu's closest ally and a crucial liaison to the Trump team and the Republican Party for the past 10 years, is working on a draft agreement that secures Israeli demands on the implementation of UN Security Council Resolution 1701.
His meetings in Washington come amid reports that diplomatic arrangements to end the fighting between Israel and Hezbollah could be near.
Israeli Demands
It seems that optimism about reaching a ceasefire deal in Lebanon rather hinges on Israeli-US understandings rather than on negotiations with Lebanon, where Hezbollah categorically rejects any additions to Resolution 1701. The Biden administration has proposed that Israel’s demands be listed in a letter of assurances sent by the White House to Netanyahu.
For Israel, those demands include the full implementation of UN resolution 1701, with a presence of double the number of Lebanese Army soldiers in the South, in addition to UNIFIL forces.
Israel also requires the deployment of non-Lebanese forces to implement the resolution, prevent Hezbollah from returning to the south or firing rockets into northern Israel.
The demands also stipulate that Syria prevents the transfer of weapons from its territory to Lebanon.
Further, they require that during the initial 60-day implementation period, Lebanon will dismantle and confiscate all military assets, arms, and infrastructure of all non-state armed groups south of the Litani River.
Any possible ceasefire deal would also recognize Israel’ right to act against violations of Resolution 1701.
At this point, US officials demand that Israel should not act against these violations immediately. Instead, they request that Tel Aviv first inform Washington about the breaches and allow for consolations with UNIFIL and the Lebanese Army to solve any problem.
Political sources in Tel Aviv confirmed progress in the Israeli-US negotiations for a ceasefire.
If Dermer succeeds to conclude an understanding, then President Biden’s envoy Amos Hochstein will travel to Beirut to negotiate a deal with the Lebanese government and Speaker Nabih Berri, who is negotiating on behalf of Hezbollah.
Army Radio reported earlier in the day that Dermer had secretly visited Russia last week to discuss their potential involvement as a party that could guarantee that Hezbollah would not rearm along Israel’s northern border.
Israel's Channel 12 reported Sunday that Dermer's efforts come as Tel Aviv fears that the UN Security Council adopts a new resolution that would severely restrict Israel's military freedom. The UN Security Council may seek to pass a resolution calling for an immediate cessation of fighting in the Gaza Strip, or imposing strict restrictions on Israeli military activities in Gaza and Lebanon.
Trump’s Wishes
Sources said Netanyahu is being extremely cautious with Trump and his wishes to end the war. The PM has chosen Dermer to follow up with the President elect to show positive signs about Israel’s willingness to finish the war.
Netanyahu wants the war to continue on condition that the Americans blame Hezbollah or Hamas or both for any failure to reach a ceasefire deal, the sources affirm.
January 20
Meanwhile, Ariel Bulshtein wrote on Sunday at the right-wing Israel Hayom newspaper that Donald Trump's re-election as US president is excellent news for Israel in so many ways that it is not easy to choose which is the most important.
He said Trump will help Israel to exterminate Hamas in Gaza, eliminate the Hezbollah threat from Lebanon, narrow Iran's nuclear options, stop international funding for anti-Israel UN agencies, curb the actions of international courts against Israel and its leaders, and normalize relations with Saudi Arabia.
He said the US and Israel will begin to work on those topics starting January 20, 2025 in the absence of any obstacles which Tel Aviv had to face under the Biden administration.

 



Donald Trump Jr. Is Helping His Father Pick the Most Controversial Cabinet of Modern Times

Republican presidential nominee and former US President Donald Trump approaches to embrace Donald Trump Jr. at his campaign rally, at PPG Paints Arena in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, US, November 4, 2024. (Reuters)
Republican presidential nominee and former US President Donald Trump approaches to embrace Donald Trump Jr. at his campaign rally, at PPG Paints Arena in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, US, November 4, 2024. (Reuters)
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Donald Trump Jr. Is Helping His Father Pick the Most Controversial Cabinet of Modern Times

Republican presidential nominee and former US President Donald Trump approaches to embrace Donald Trump Jr. at his campaign rally, at PPG Paints Arena in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, US, November 4, 2024. (Reuters)
Republican presidential nominee and former US President Donald Trump approaches to embrace Donald Trump Jr. at his campaign rally, at PPG Paints Arena in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, US, November 4, 2024. (Reuters)

Donald Trump Jr. has emerged as the most influential Trump family member in the transition as the president-elect builds the most controversial cabinet in modern US history, according to a half dozen sources with knowledge of his role, elevating inexperienced loyalists over more qualified candidates for top positions in his administration.

Trump, who fiercely prizes loyalty, has long relied on family members for political advice, but which relative has his ear is known to vary.

This time, it is Don Jr., who has helped cabinet contenders sink or rise to the fore - from championing Senator JD Vance as Trump's running mate to blocking former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo from joining the cabinet, according to the sources, who include donors, personal friends and political allies.

Don Jr. is due to join conservative venture capital fund 1789 Capital, although one of the sources said he will continue to host his politics-focused podcast and support candidates that espouse Trump's brand of politics.

He will provide advice to his father in the White House, the source added, although they cautioned that Don Jr. was unlikely to be involved in day-to-day deliberations.

Don Jr. and the Trump-Vance transition team did not respond to a Reuters request for comment.

In addition to ensuring candidates are loyal to his father, Don Jr. typically seeks out contenders who embrace an anti-establishment worldview, including protectionist economic policies, and a reduction in military interventions and overseas aid, according to a handful of the sources and Don Jr.'s own comments on social media site X and in public.

Two of the candidates Don Jr. championed may face a rocky confirmation process in the Senate: Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who Trump plans to nominate as the top US health official, and Tulsi Gabbard, who Trump plans to nominate as intelligence chief.

Kennedy is an environmental activist who has spread misinformation on vaccines. Gabbard, a former Democratic congresswoman, implied that Russian President Vladimir Putin had valid grounds for invading Ukraine and stirred controversy when she met Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in the midst of his bloody crackdown on dissidents in 2017.

INFLUENTIAL - TO A POINT

Don Jr. was also instrumental in lobbying his father to pick his close friend Vance as Trump's running mate.

Vance was popular with Trump's base, but his anti-corporate rhetoric, opposition to Ukraine aid and past comments panning some Democratic women as "childless cat ladies" gave some donors and supporters pause.

Trump was ultimately happy with Vance, giving Don Jr. extra political capital as an adviser during the transition, one of the sources added.

Not all of Don Jr.'s picks have landed jobs.

He was keen on Ric Grenell, a personal friend and former ambassador to Germany, getting secretary of state, according to a separate source familiar with the matter. His father ended up picking Senator Marco Rubio, whose views are deemed by Trump's core supporters as too traditional and internationalist.

Two of the sources close to Don Jr. said he does not weigh in on all personnel decisions and is not working on the transition process or at Mar-a-Lago full time. He is also not expected to play a big role in vetting candidates for lower-level jobs, one of the sources close to him said.

"The reality this time is we actually know what we're doing," Don Jr. told Fox News earlier this month. "And it's about surrounding my father with people who are both competent and loyal."

FOLLOWING IN HIS SISTER'S FOOTSTEPS

Trump's daughter Ivanka and her husband Jared Kushner were prominent in his 2016 presidential campaign, the subsequent transition and throughout his first term.

This time, they are far less active, although Kushner, formerly Trump's senior adviser who focused on the Middle East, told Reuters that he is briefing real estate investor Steve Witkoff on his new job as special envoy to the region.

"I have been working with Witkoff to get him up to speed on Trump's past efforts," Kushner said through a spokesperson.

A half-dozen sources close to Kushner said they expect him to be involved in Middle Eastern policy in an unofficial capacity.

Kushner, Ivanka and sibling Eric Trump, who runs the Trump Organization business, do not plan to join the new administration, according to their representatives as well as sources.

One source close to the transition said Trump does not appear to need his family for advice as much as in the past because of aides like Susie Wiles, who helped to run the most disciplined of his election campaigns to date.

Trump has named Wiles as his chief of staff, a powerful position in Washington.

"Stuff is really buttoned down," the source said of Trump's current team. "He may not need the family this time like he used to."