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Behind the scenes

Behind the scenes of Netanyahu’s White House visit

Netanyahu gave Trump a golden pager for display, as well as a genuine one of the kind Israel used in its operation against Hezbollah

Avi Ohayon (GPO)

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and President Donald Trump hold meetings during Netanyahu's first visit to Washington in Trump's second term on February 4, 2025

Beyond the intensive policy discussions on the future of Gaza and the Iranian threat, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and President Donald Trump had a very friendly meeting that continued until late Tuesday night.

An Israeli source in Washington traveling with Netanyahu confirmed that the prime minister gave Trump a symbolic golden beeper for display. He also gave Trump an actual pager of the kind Israel used in its operation against Hezbollah terrorists, in which the Mossad ran a front company for manufacturing pagers that they sold to the Lebanese terrorist group, and detonated hundreds of them simultaneously, killing 12 and injuring 3,000, according to reports.

“That was a tremendous operation,” Trump said. 

Trump gave Netanyahu a signed photo of the two of them in the Oval Office, on which he wrote “to Bibi, a great leader.”

After the initial photo-op, in which Trump took several questions and announced his intention to permanently remove all Palestinians from Gaza, the leaders met together with Vice President J.D. Vance, Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, National Security Advisor Mike Waltz and Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff. Secretary of State Marco Rubio joined via a secure line. On the Israeli side, Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer, Ambassador to the U.S. Yechiel Leiter, Netanyahu’s chief of staff, Tzachi Braverman and his military secretary, Lt.-Gen. Roman Gofman attended the meeting. 

Netanyahu and Trump also had a one-on-one meeting, followed by a two-hour dinner. 

During their conversation, Trump recounted his meeting with the prime minister’s wife and son, Sara and Yair Netanyahu, in Mar-a-Lago last year. Trump said that Sara impressed upon him the importance of securing the hostages’ freedom.

The president also spoke out against the Israeli “deep state” for requiring Netanyahu to testify in his corruption trial while “running a war that is changing the face of the Middle East.”

Trump took Netanyahu on a tour of the White House residence, including the Lincoln Bedroom, which Netanyahu, who has made more than a dozen trips to the White House as prime minister, had never seen before.

The Israeli source said that the meeting with Trump “went beyond our expectations and dreams” and was “the friendliest meeting ever between an American president and a prime minister of Israel.”

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