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Netanyahu to meet Trump as Israeli leader looks to rekindle relationship

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Netanyahu to meet Trump as Israeli leader looks to rekindle relationship

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JERUSALEM — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is slated to meet former President Trump on Friday at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida in an effort to repair a fractured relationship.

After President Biden defeated Trump in the 2020 presidential election, Netanyahu congratulated President-elect Biden, prompting Trump to call out the Israeli leader and was quoted as saying “I haven’t spoken to him since,” according to comments released from an interview with Israeli journalist Barak Ravid. “F–k him,” Trump added.

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In his tweet, Netanyahu said, “Congratulations Joe Biden and Kamala Harris. Joe, we’ve had a long and warm personal relationship for nearly 40 years, and I know you as a great friend of Israel,” Netanyahu wrote on Twitter. “I look forward to working with both of you to further strengthen the special alliance between the US and Israel.”

NETANYAHU SEEMS TO CONTRADICT BIDEN CEASE-FIRE OFFER: ‘NONSTARTER’ IF ALL CONDITIONS NOT MET

President Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu attend the Abraham Accords signing ceremony on the South Lawn of the White House on Sept. 15, 2020. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon/File)

Netanyahu is now working to repair his relationship with Trump. During his Thursday speech to Congress, the prime minister paid tribute to Trump’s accomplishments in the Middle East.

“I want to thank President Trump for his leadership in brokering the historic Abraham Accords. Like Americans, Israelis were relieved that President Trump emerged safe and sound from that dastardly attack on him, dastardly attack on American democracy. There is no room for political violence in democracies,” said the Israeli leader.

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Trump and his Mideast team brokered the Abraham Accords, a series of diplomatic normalization agreements between Israel and the Sunni Arab countries of the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Sudan and Morocco.

Netanyahu continued in his speech “I also want to thank President Trump for all the things he did for Israel, from recognizing Israel’s sovereignty over the Golan Heights, to confronting Iran’s aggression, to recognizing Jerusalem as our capital and moving the American Embassy there. That’s Jerusalem, our eternal capital never to be divided again.”

Michael Makovsky, president and CEO of the Jewish Institute for National Security of America, told Fox News Digital, “It’s very important for both men and both the U.S. and Israel that Netanyahu and Trump have a very positive meeting tomorrow, and I’m sure that will be the case. They had a close relationship when Trump was president, but then Trump expressed dissatisfaction with Netanyahu a couple of times. Still, Trump knows the Republican base is very pro-Israel, with the latest example being all the Republican-led standing ovations yesterday during Netanyahu’s speech to Congress.”

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu addresses Congress. (Getty Images)

“Trump can also pick up some independent or Democratic voters upset about Biden’s shift on Israel this year and the concern over [Vice President] Kamala Harris’ views toward Israel,” Makovsky said. “Anyway, Trump is fundamentally pro-Israel. And Netanyahu keenly understands that strong U.S. backing, both in public and private, is pivotal to Israel addressing its many post-10/7 threats in Gaza, Lebanon, Iran, Yemen, etc., and the chances of normalization with Saudi Arabia; and if Trump is re-elected, they need to have close personal ties, which is critical for Trump. In any case, it’s critical for U.S. national security interests for the U.S. to have close ties with Israel.”

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BIDEN’S $230 MILLION GAZA PIER QUIETLY SHUTS DOWN, US SENATOR LABELS PROJECT ‘NATIONAL EMBARRASSMENT’

The new chapter in Trump-Netanyahu relations looks to already be unfolding, with Trump welcoming the Israeli leader’s recognition of his Mideast diplomatic breakthroughs.

Trump told “Fox & Friends” on Thursday that Netanyahu was “very nice to me yesterday. He mentioned me in the speech very nicely, and I appreciated that he’s coming to see me.”

The former president, however, warned the Israeli leader that he needs to put the prosecution of the war against the U.S.-designated terrorist movement Hamas on the fast track: “I want him to finish up and get it done quickly. You got to get it done quickly because they are getting decimated with this publicity. And, you know, Israel is not very good at public relations.”

An explosion erupts in Gaza City during an Israeli airstrike on Oct. 9, 2023. (Sameh Rahmi/NurPhoto via Getty Images)

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Trump also said that Hamas’ mass slaughter of nearly 1,200 people, including more than 30 Americans, on Oct. 7 in southern Israel would not have happened if he had been re-elected in 2020: “Oct. 7th would have never happened if I was president. There was no chance. Iran was broke, they had no money for Hamas or Hezbollah. It just wouldn’t have happened, zero chance.”

Trump said the nine-month war in Gaza to root out Hamas terrorists has lasted too long: “I’d make sure that it gets over with fast. You have to end this fast. It can’t continue to go on like this. It’s too long, it’s too much. You got to get your hostages back.”

Hamas continues to hold more than 100 hostages in Gaza, including eight Americans.

“This is a very tricky moment for a foreign leader to come to the United States. Asking for meetings with Biden, Harris and Trump was the appropriate way to handle it,” Richard Goldberg, who served on the National Security Council during the Trump administration, told Fox News Digital.

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Goldberg, who is now a senior adviser for the Washington, D.C.-based Foundation for Defense of Democracies, continued, “I think you’d probably see a return to a formula that best promotes security, stability and peace: maximum pressure on Iran and maximum support to Israel.”

Fox News’ Caitlin McFall contributed to this article.

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Minnesota braces for what’s next amid immigration arrests and in the wake of Renee Good shooting

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Minnesota braces for what’s next amid immigration arrests and in the wake of Renee Good shooting

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Already shaken by the fatal shooting of a woman by an immigration officer, Minnesota’s Twin Cities on Sunday braced for what many expect will be a new normal over the next few weeks as the Department of Homeland Security carries out what it called its largest enforcement operation ever.

Protesters screamed at heavily-armed federal agents and honked car horns, banged on drums and blew whistles in attempts to disrupt their operations in one Minneapolis neighborhood filled with single-family homes.

There was some pushing and several people were hit with chemical spray just before agents banged down the door of one home on Sunday. They later took one man away in handcuffs.

“We’re seeing a lot of immigration enforcement across Minneapolis and across the state, federal agents just swarming around our neighborhoods,” said Jason Chavez, a Minneapolis city councilmember. “They’ve definitely been out here.”

Chavez, the son of Mexican immigrants who represents an area with a growing immigrant population, said he is closely monitoring information from chat groups about where residents are seeing agents operating.

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People holding whistles positioned themselves in freezing temperatures on street corners in the neighborhood where 37-year-old Renee Good was shot and killed Wednesday, watching for any signs of federal agents.

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More than 20,000 people have taken part in a variety of trainings to become “observers” of enforcement activities in Minnesota since the 2024 election, said Luis Argueta, a spokesperson for Unidos MN, a local human rights organization .

“It’s a role that people choose to take on voluntarily, because they choose to look out for their neighbors,” Argueta said.

The protests have been largely peaceful, but the Twin Cities remained anxious. Minneapolis public schools on Monday will start offering remote learning for the next month in response to concerns that children might feel unsafe venturing out while tensions remain high.

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Many schools closed last week after Good’s shooting and the upheaval that followed.

While the enforcement activity continues, two of the state’s leading Democrats said on Sunday that the investigation into Good’s shooting death shouldn’t be overseen solely by the federal government.

Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey and U.S. Sen. Tina Smith said in separate interviews Sunday that state authorities should be included in the investigation because the federal government has already made clear what it believes happened.

“How can we trust the federal government to do an objective, unbiased investigation, without prejudice, when at the beginning of that investigation they have already announced exactly what they saw — what they think happened,” Smith said on ABC’s “This Week.”

The Trump administration has defended the officer who shot Good in her car, saying he was protecting himself and fellow agents and that Good had “weaponized” her vehicle.

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Todd Lyons, acting director of ICE, defended the officer on Fox News Channel’s “The Sunday Briefing.”

“That law enforcement officer had milliseconds, if not short time to make a decision to save his life and his other fellow agents,” he said.

Lyons also said the administration’s enforcement operations in Minnesota wouldn’t be needed “if local jurisdictions worked with us to turn over these criminally illegal aliens once they are already considered a public safety threat by the locals.”

The killing of Good by an ICE officer and the shooting of two people by federal agents in Portland, Oregon, led to dozens of protests across the country over the weekend.

Thousands of people marched Saturday in Minneapolis, where Homeland Security called its deployment of immigration officers in the Twin Cities its biggest ever immigration enforcement operation.

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Associated Press journalists Giovanna Dell’Orto in Minneapolis, Thomas Strong in Washington, Bill Barrow in Atlanta, and John Seewer in Toledo, Ohio, contributed.

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Netanyahu and Rubio discuss US military intervention in Iran amid ongoing nationwide protests: report

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Netanyahu and Rubio discuss US military intervention in Iran amid ongoing nationwide protests: report

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Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Secretary of State Marco Rubio discussed the possibility of U.S. intervention in Iran, according to a report.

The two leaders spoke by phone Saturday as Israel is on “high alert,” preparing for the possibility of U.S. military intervention in Iran, according to Reuters, citing multiple Israeli sources. A U.S. official confirmed the call to Fox News Digital but did not provide additional details.

The report comes as nationwide anti-regime demonstrations across Iran hit the two-week mark.

On Saturday, the Iranian regime triggered an internet “kill switch” in an apparent effort to conceal alleged abuses by security forces and as protests against it surged nationwide, according to a cybersecurity expert. The blackout reduced internet access to a fraction of normal levels.

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KEANE WARNS IRANIAN REGIME TO TAKE TRUMP ‘DEAD SERIOUS’ ON PROTEST KILLING THREAT AMID ONGOING DEMONSTRATIONS

Secretary of State Marco Rubio holds his end-of-year press conference at the State Department in Washington, D.C., Dec. 19, 2025. (Kevin Mohatt/Reuters)

On Sunday, Iran’s parliament speaker warned that the U.S. military and Israel would be “legitimate targets” if America strikes the Islamic Republic.

Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf issued the threat as lawmakers rushed the dais in the Iranian parliament, shouting, “Death to America!” according to The Associated Press.

President Donald Trump offered support for the protesters on Saturday, writing on Truth Social that “Iran is looking at FREEDOM, perhaps like never before. The USA stands ready to help!!!”

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IRANIAN MILITARY LEADER THREATENS PREEMPTIVE ATTACK AFTER TRUMP COMMENTS

In this frame grab from video obtained by the AP outside Iran, a masked demonstrator holds a picture of Iran’s Crown Prince Reza Pahlavi during a protest in Tehran, Iran, Friday, Jan. 9, 2026. (UGC via AP)

At a news conference Friday, Trump said Iran was facing mounting pressure as unrest spreads across the country.

“Iran’s in big trouble,” he said. “It looks to me that the people are taking over certain cities that nobody thought were really possible just a few weeks ago. We’re watching the situation very carefully.”

The president said the U.S. would respond forcefully if the regime resorts to mass violence. 

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“We’ll be hitting them very hard where it hurts. And that doesn’t mean boots on the ground, but it means hitting them very, very hard where it hurts,” he said.

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Protests in Iran intensify for the 12th day. (The National Council of Resistance of Iran)

Fox News Digital reached out to the State Department and White House for comment.

Fox News Digital’s Emma Bussey, Brie Stimson and The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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Four killed, 20 injured in overnight Russian strikes across Ukraine

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Four killed, 20 injured in overnight Russian strikes across Ukraine

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Russia fired more than 150 drones overnight into Sunday targeting close to two dozen locations across Ukraine, killing at least four people and injuring 20 more.

Ukraine’s Air Forces say they intercepted 125 drones aerially but confirmed that at least 25 strike drones struck their targets.

They added that Moscow’s latest barrage mainly targeted Kharkiv, Kherson, Zaporizhzhia and Dnipropetrovsk, all of which were targeted in Saturday’s overnight strikes as well.

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Local officials in the southern region of Zaporizhzhia say the strikes targeted residential areas and energy infrastructure. More than 385,000 homes were affected by electric, gas or water outages, at a critical time as temperatures plunged to 10 degrees below Celsius.

Regional lawmakers say service was restored to most of the affected households and areas by Sunday morning, but added that emergency work was still being carried out to restore power to the remaining homes.

Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy accused Russia of timing their attacks with the cold peaks of winter as to maximise civilian suffering.

“They struck targets that have no military purpose whatsoever – energy infrastructure, residential buildings. They deliberately waited for freezing weather to make things worse for our people. This is deliberate, cynical Russian terror specifically against civilians,” wrote Zelenskyy in a post on X.

He also noted that this week had seen heightened Russian assault on Ukrainian cities, announcing that his country’s defence forces recorded thousands of attacks using a variety of different weapons.

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“Over the course of this week, Russia launched almost 1,100 attack drones against Ukraine, more than 890 guided aerial bombs, and over 50 missiles of various types – ballistic, cruise, and even the Oreshnik medium-range ballistic missile.”

The Ukrainian leader thanked all units responsible for protecting the country and responding to attacks, and praised their tireless efforts and resilience.

He also called on allies to ensure his embattled country maintains “stable support”, in defence and diplomatic fields as coordinated dialogue efforts continue in search of peace.

Meanwhile, Russia says that one person was killed in Ukrainian strikes on the western city of Voronezh. Officials say a young woman succumbed to her wounds at an intensive care unit of a local hospital after debris from a drone fell on her house during Saturday’s attacks.

They added that at least three others were injured in the attacks which targeted more than 10 residential apartment buildings, private homes and a high school.

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The city of Voronezh lies just 250 kilometres from the Ukrainian border and is home to approximately one million people. The attacks, which Kyiv have yet to confirm, came after the Kremlin’s major offensive on Ukraine in the early hours of Saturday.

Additional sources • AP

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