Netanyahu's Pre-Inauguration Gift to Trump: A Lebanon Cease-Fire Deal"

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,” an Israeli official said. Like others in this article, the official spoke to The Washington Post on the condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive conversations.

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.”