Israel is pushing ahead with efforts to forge a ceasefire in Lebanon as an early foreign policy “gift” for the incoming Trump administration, the Washington Post reports, citing Israeli officials.
“There is an understanding that Israel would gift something to Trump … that in January there will be an understanding about Lebanon,” an Israeli official tells the Post, speaking on condition of anonymity.
The report comes after it was reported that Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer met with US President-elect Donald Trump at the latter’s Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida on Sunday.
According to a report in Axios earlier in he week, the aim of the meeting was for him to pass along messages regarding Israel’s plans for Gaza, Lebanon and Iran over the next two months. A US official said that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu gave a heads-up to the Biden administration about the Mar-a-Lago meeting.
Dermer also met with Trump’s son-in-law and former senior adviser Jared Kushner, who is not slated to play a role in the next administration.
He then traveled to Washington where he met on Monday with US special envoy for Lebanon Amos Hochstein, Secretary of State Antony Blinken, National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan and White House Mideast czar Brett McGurk.
Hochstein told reporters at the White House on Tuesday that “there is a shot” to secure a ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah soon and that he is “hopeful” about the prospects for such a deal.
