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The Big Story

Gaza ceasefire push tests Trump-Netanyahu bond

President Trump’s push for a ceasefire in Gaza is testing his bond with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

That relationship was on full display this week during the Israeli leader’s third visit to Washington this year.

Even when Trump and Netanyahu have diverged in private, they have usually remained publicly in lockstep — apart from Trump dropping an f-bomb last month during the shaky start of the Israel-Iran ceasefire.

As Trump turns his attention to ending the fighting in Gaza, Netanyahu risks drawing the president’s ire once again.

“The president gets frustrated because he wants this victory of having brought peace,” said Elliott Abrams, U.S. special representative for Iran during Trump’s first term.

“I think when it comes to Gaza, he recognizes that the problem is Hamas. So, it’s frustrating to him that he can’t get the hostages out and get a ceasefire, but he’s not blaming Netanyahu.”

Trump and his top envoy to the Middle East, Steve Witkoff, say a deal is close.

“There’s nothing definite about war, Gaza and all the other places, there’s a very good chance of a settlement, an agreement this week, maybe next week if not,” Trump told reporters on Wednesday when asked about the progress of his talks with Netanyahu.

Witkoff said Tuesday the two sides were now in “proximity talks,” having whittled their disagreements down to one point. A Palestinian source told the BBC that talks in Doha have stalled over disagreements on the delivery of humanitarian aid and Israeli military withdrawal.

It’s not clear whether Trump will respect Netanyahu’s red lines — getting Hamas out of Gaza and Israel retaining freedom of military operation — or push the Israeli leader to accept a deal that would infuriate his right-wing allies and risk toppling his governing coalition.

Trump has repeatedly broken with Netanyahu’s desires in the Middle East, as demonstrated by his dropping sanctions on Syria’s new government and engaging in direct talks with Iran. Yet this week the president was notably deferential to his Israeli counterpart on questions about the future of Gaza.

“Trump is the only U.S. president who in his first 6 months has both sidelined Israel and made it central to his successes and policies,” Aaron David Miller, a veteran Middle East negotiator and senior fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, wrote Monday on the social platform X.

“The Trump-Netanyahu bromance will last until it doesn’t.”

Read the full report at TheHill.com.

Welcome to The Hill’s Defense & National Security newsletter, I’m Ellen Mitchell — your guide to the latest developments at the Pentagon, on Capitol Hill and beyond.

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Essential Reads

How policy will affect defense and national security now and in
the future:

Tillis suggests he wouldn’t vote in favor of Hegseth confirmation now

Sen. Thom Tillis (R-N.C.) suggested Wednesday that he would not vote in favor of Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s confirmation at this time. During an interview with CNN’s Jake Tapper, Tillis said that when it came to Hegseth’s confirmation vote, he “had already informed my conference that I was going to defer to the Senate Armed Services [Committee] vote.” “If he got a unanimous vote out of Senate …

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Pence: Tillis criticism of Hegseth ‘not fair’

Former Vice President Mike Pence defended Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth on Thursday, amid mounting criticism of the Pentagon leader’s management style, leaked Signal chats and his reported decision to pause military aid to Ukraine without President Trump’s approval. “I don’t think it’s fair,” Pence told CNN’s Kate Bolduan in an interview Thursday after Sen. Thom Tillis (R-N.C.) rebuked …

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Russia launches new missile, drone barrage against Kyiv amid Trump, Putin tensions

Russia launched another major drone and missile strike on Kyiv overnight, Ukrainian officials confirmed Thursday morning, as President Trump ramps up criticism of Russian President Vladimir Putin over the continued onslaught. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said in a post on the social platform X that Russia’s latest attack, using 18 missiles and nearly 400 aerial drone strikes, lasted more than 10 hours. Two people …

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Trump administration resumes sending some weapons to Ukraine after Pentagon pause

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Trump administration has resumed sending some weapons to Ukraine, a week after the Pentagon had directed that some deliveries be paused, U.S. officials said Wednesday. The weapons heading into Ukraine include 155 mm munitions and precision-guided rockets known as GMLRS, two officials told The Associated Press on the condition of anonymity to provide details that had not been announced publicly. It’s unclear …

Full Story

On Our Radar

Upcoming things we’re watching on our beat:

Secretary of State Marco Rubio is in Kuala Lumpur until Saturday to participate in the ASEAN-United States Post-Ministerial Conference, the East Asia Summit Foreign Ministers’ Meeting, and the ASEAN Regional Forum Foreign Ministers’ Meeting.

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In Other News

Branch out with a different read from The Hill:

Swalwell: ICE agents would ‘have more credibility’ without masks

Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-Calif.) criticized Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents Wednesday for wearing masks as they carry out the Trump administration’s escalating crackdown on illegal immigration. “These ICE agents would do themselves a lot of favor and have more credibility if they …

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On Tap Tomorrow

Events in and around the defense world:

The National Institute for Deterrence Studies will discuss “Arms Control is Not Dead Yet,” at 10 a.m.
Hudson Institute will have a talk on “The Han Kuang Exercise and the Taiwanese Military’s Road to Readiness,” at 2 p.m.

What We’re Reading

News we’ve flagged from other outlets:

The drone factories fueling Russia’s unprecedented assaults on Ukraine (The Wall Street Journal)
Tim Kennedy, Green Beret and Army hype man, under investigation for lying about combat valor (Military.com)
The backdoor way that Pete Hegseth could keep women out of combat (The Atlantic)

Trending Today

Two key stories on The Hill right now:

Judge orders Jan. 6 rally organizer to pay $2K daily until compliance with subpoena

A federal judge on Wednesday ordered an organizer of President Trump’s Jan. 6, 2021, rally at the Ellipse to pay $2,000 per day until she complies … Read more

Dershowitz says he knows Epstein client list names: ‘But I’m bound by confidentiality’

Lawyer Alan Dershowitz on Thursday said he knows the list of names in the Jeffrey Epstein files regarding alleged clients in his international sex … Read more

Opinions in The Hill

Op-eds related to defense & national security submitted to The Hill:

You’re all caught up. See you tomorrow!

Defense &National Security

Defense &National Security

Gaza ceasefire push tests Trump-Netanyahu bond

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