Trump's Trials - Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to meet President Trump Monday

Episode Date: July 7, 2025

Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu is scheduled to meet President Trump at the White House on Monday, when they are expected to discuss a possible ceasefire in Gaza.Support NPR and hear every episode of Trump's Terms sponsor-free with NPR+. Sign up at plus.npr.org.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

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wherever you get your podcasts. I'm Laila Fadil. And I'm Michelle Martin. President Trump says there could be a ceasefire deal in Gaza this week with some hostages in Gaza going free. I think there's a good chance we have a deal with Hamas during the week, during the coming week pertaining to quite a few of the hostages.

That's what Trump will be discussing this evening with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in the White House. It will be their first meeting since the US joined Israel in attacking Iran's nuclear sites two weeks ago. And PRS Daniel Estrin has been following all this from Tel Aviv. Daniel, good morning. Good morning, Michelle. So how close is a ceasefire deal in Gaza based on your reporting? We are not expecting a ceasefire deal to be announced today. It could take a few more

days or longer. Israel and Hamas just began talks in Doha, Qatar yesterday. And mediators in the region tell us that the Israeli and Hamas delegations are on different floors of the same hotel in Doha, and mediators are shuttling between them. But remember, Netanyahu just landed today in Washington. A person who was briefed on the matter, who was not authorized to speak publicly,

told me that Netanyahu is expected to meet Trump's Mideast envoy, Steve Whitcoff, and Secretary of State Marco Rubio to talk over the details of what a Gaza deal would look like before Netanyahu meets Trump for dinner. Can you just give us a sense of what a ceasefire deal might look like? I mean, is it temporary? Would it actually lead to the end of the war in Gaza? We saw a recent draft of the deal that is being negotiated. It starts with a 60-day ceasefire. During that time, Hamas would release 10 out of the 20 living hostages it still holds. Israel would release Palestinian prisoners. And starting on day one of the ceasefire, the two sides would begin discussing the terms of a final end of the war

Now Netanyahu's latest mantra is that there will be no more Hamas in Gaza So we are expecting discussions between the US and Israel this week in Washington about what that would look like Does that mean expelling the few remaining senior Hamas militants from Gaza? What would it look like for Hamas to lay down its arms, who would replace Hamas in governing Gaza? Those are the issues that need to be discussed. So it was just two weeks ago that the US joined Israel's attacks

on Iran's nuclear facilities. Now Trump is looking for a ceasefire deal in Gaza. Is this all connected, Daniel? Is there a bigger strategy at play here? I think it is all connected, Michelle. We spoke to a person briefed on the matter who was not authorized to speak about it publicly who said that Netanyahu and Trump will be discussing what kind of diplomatic deal Israel would want to see with Iran, what would want the US to forge with Iran over the future

of its nuclear program. Trump did attack Iran's nuclear sites with bombs that Israel does not possess. That is something Netanyahu had long wanted. And now Netanyahu knows what Trump wants. Trump wants an end to the Gaza war. Trump promised his voters when he was running for election that he would end wars. He wants to be the president to end the Gaza war so that he can broker diplomatic ties between Israel and other Arab or Muslim countries.

But that puts Netanyahu in a tough spot. His far-right political partners in government do not want the war to end. But for Netanyahu, ending the war and freeing the hostages from Gaza is a kind of image of victory that could help Netanyahu. He is eyeing a potential new election here in Israel. That is NPR's Daniel Estrin in Tel Aviv. Daniel, thank you.

You're welcome. Before we wrap up, a reminder, you can find more coverage of the Trump administration on the NPR Politics Podcast, where you can hear NPR's political reporters break down the day's biggest political news with new episodes every weekday afternoon. And thanks as always to our NPR Plus supporters who hear every episode of the show without sponsor messages. You can learn more at plus.npr.org. I'm Scott Detrow.

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