Washington, D.C
Netanyahu visits DC amid US political turmoil at critical juncture of Gaza war
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu arrived in Washington late Monday, the day after President Joe Biden announced he is withdrawing from the U.S. presidential race – a decision that adds another layer of uncertainty to U.S.-Israel relations at a crucial moment in the Gaza war.
Without a cease-fire agreement in place, many had questioned the timing of Netanyahu’s visit when it was announced in June. Now, facing a potential shift in American politics, the Israeli leader aims to lay the groundwork for the next American administration.
A U.S. official said Biden and Netanyahu were expected to meet Thursday at the White House.
“I will seek to anchor the bipartisan support that is so important for Israel,” Netanyahu said as he departed Israel. “I will tell my friends on both sides of the aisle that regardless of who the American people choose as their next president, Israel remains America’s indispensable and strong ally in the Middle East.”
While publicly Netanyahu aims for the appearance of neutrality in the now likely match between potential Democratic presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris and Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump, there is little doubt whom Netanyahu is rooting for, said Jonathan Rynhold, head of the Department of Political Studies at Israel’s Bar-Ilan University.
“Republicans in general are more supportive of Israel’s security agenda,” he told VOA. “They’re more forgiving of Israel’s right-wing government and its policies towards the Palestinians.”
That’s especially true of Trump, whose administration’s pro-Israeli policies were “quite extraordinary” and “created a sugar high” for the country, said Aaron David Miller, a former U.S. negotiator for the Middle East who is now a senior fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.
Trump brokered the Abraham Accords that normalized Israel’s diplomatic ties with some of its Arab neighbors – the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Morocco. Trump also moved the U.S. Embassy from Tel Aviv to contested Jerusalem and recognized Israeli annexation of the Golan Heights.
While in the U.S., Netanyahu is requesting to meet with Trump, in part to dismiss claims that there are tensions between him and the former president, said Nimrod Goren, senior fellow for Israeli affairs at the Middle East Institute.
Trump soured on Netanyahu when the prime minister congratulated Biden on his win in 2020. The former president has also warned Israel to “get back to peace and stop killing people.”
The Trump campaign has not responded to VOA for confirmation on Netanyahu’s request for a meeting.
Netanyahu meeting Harris
Harris will meet with Netanyahu this week at the White House, separate from the prime minister’s planned meeting with Biden, her aide told VOA. “Throughout her career, the vice president has had an unwavering commitment to the security of Israel,” the aide said.
Harris also has strong ties to the country’s Jewish community. Her husband, second gentleman Doug Emhoff, is Jewish and has played a key role in the administration’s efforts to combat antisemitism.
However, instead of presiding over the Senate chamber during Netanyahu’s speech to Congress on Wednesday, Harris will travel to Indianapolis, Indiana, to speak in front of the historically Black sorority Zeta Phi Beta.
The optics of applauding Netanyahu would not fly well amid anger over Gaza from progressives, Arab Americans and American Muslims who traditionally vote for Democratic candidates. Dozens of congressional Democrats in Congress are also expected to boycott the speech.
Gestures aside, a Harris presidency would unlikely yield a significant change in Middle East policy, Carnegie’s Miller told VOA, and would remain relatively “mainstream when it comes to supporting the U.S.-Israeli relationship.”
But Harris would be “far tougher, certainly rhetorically, on Israeli settlement activity, and much more, much more sympathetic to Palestinian suffering and Palestinian rights,” he said.
Harris’ comments in office have been largely in line with Biden on key foreign policy issues and it’s unclear whether she’ll manifest her own doctrine if elected.
Compared to Biden, who has an extraordinarily clear, integrated and well-thought-out American grand strategy, “she’s a blank slate, really, on a foreign policy,” Rynhold said.
Netanyahu’s domestic goals
With the Israeli Knesset nearing a three-month recess, Netanyahu is aiming to advance his own domestic political goals, and a cease-fire deal could be the silver lining, Goren said.
“There may be a political timing that will enable Netanyahu to make a move once the Knesset is in recess, without having that lead to immediate coalition breakdown,” he said. “That could not be done until the Knesset comes back to operation.”
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Friday that a deal was within reach.
However, Goren and other analysts said they were skeptical the cease-fire deal would extend beyond phase one: a six-week pause in fighting in exchange for some of the hostages held by Hamas.
Kim Lewis contributed to this report.
LANDOVER, Md. – Bruno Mars is bringing The Romantic Tour to the Washington, D.C. region this spring!
The Grammy-winning star will stop at Northwest Stadium on Saturday, May 2, 2026.
The stadium’s website lets fans sign up for presale access now. Tickets go on sale Thursday, January 15 at 12 p.m.
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA – FEBRUARY 02: Bruno Mars performs onstage during the 67th Annual GRAMMY Awards at Crypto.com Arena on February 02, 2025 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Kevin Winter/Getty Images for The Recording Academy)
Bruno Mars – The Romantic Tour 2026 DatesApril – October 2026
Apr 10, 2026 – Allegiant Stadium, Las Vegas, NV
Apr 14, 2026 – State Farm Stadium, Glendale, AZ
Apr 18, 2026 – Globe Life Field, Arlington, TX
Apr 22, 2026 – NRG Stadium, Houston, TX
Apr 25, 2026 – Bobby Dodd Stadium at Hyundai Field, Atlanta, GA
Apr 29, 2026 – Bank of America Stadium, Charlotte, NC
May 02, 2026 – Northwest Stadium, Landover, MD
May 06, 2026 – Nissan Stadium, Nashville, TN
May 09, 2026 – Ford Field, Detroit, MI
May 13, 2026 – U.S. Bank Stadium, Minneapolis, MN
May 16, 2026 – Soldier Field Stadium, Chicago, IL
May 20, 2026 – Ohio Stadium, Columbus, OH
May 23, 2026 – Rogers Stadium, Toronto, ON
May 24, 2026 – Rogers Stadium, Toronto, ON
Jun 20, 2026 – Stade de France, Paris, FR
Jun 21, 2026 – Stade de France, Paris, FR
Jun 26, 2026 – Olympiastadion, Berlin, DE
Jul 04, 2026 – Johan Cruijff ArenA, Amsterdam, NL
Jul 05, 2026 – Johan Cruijff ArenA, Amsterdam, NL
Jul 10, 2026 – Riyadh Air Metropolitano, Madrid, ES
Jul 14, 2026 – Stadio San Siro, Milan, IT
Jul 18, 2026 – Wembley Stadium Connected by EE, London, UK
Jul 19, 2026 – Wembley Stadium Connected by EE, London, UK
Aug 21, 2026 – Metlife Stadium, East Rutherford, NJ
Aug 22, 2026 – Metlife Stadium, East Rutherford, NJ
Aug 29, 2026 – Acrisure Stadium, Pittsburgh, PA
Sep 01, 2026 – Lincoln Financial Field, Philadelphia, PA
Sep 05, 2026 – Gillette Stadium, Foxborough, MA
Sep 09, 2026 – Lucas Oil Stadium, Indianapolis, IN
Sep 12, 2026 – Raymond James Stadium, Tampa, FL
Sep 16, 2026 – Caesars Superdome, New Orleans, LA
Sep 19, 2026 – Hard Rock Stadium, Miami, FL
Sep 23, 2026 – Alamodome, San Antonio, TX
Sep 26, 2026 – Falcon Stadium, United States Air Force Academy, CO
Oct 02, 2026 – SoFi Stadium, Los Angeles, CA
Oct 03, 2026 – SoFi Stadium, Los Angeles, CA
Oct 10, 2026 – Levi’s Stadium, Santa Clara, CA
Oct 14, 2026 – BC Place, Vancouver, BC
More information on the tour can be found online.
D.C.’s mayor and interim police chief took questions on immigration enforcement after an ICE agent shot and killed an unarmed woman in Minneapolis.
“If we don’t want ICE in our communities, we have to stop funding ICE – and that decision isn’t made here; it’s made at the Congress,” Mayor Muriel Bowser said.
The mayor was asked about her reaction to the killing.
“To me, it just is reflected, when you have people who are unaccustomed to urban policing trying to police in an urban environment. What it looked to me like – very bad, and I’m not a police officer, I’m not in law enforcement – but what I saw was completely avoidable, and a woman died,” she said.
“ICE is patrolling American cities. If we don’t want that, the Congress has to stop funding ICE, because thousands of agents who are untrained to police in urban environments are on our streets,” Bowser added.
In two recent incidents in D.C., federal agents opened fire on drivers who the agents claimed were trying to hit them with their vehicles. In those cases, no one was injured.
Interim Chief of Police Jeffery Carroll was asked about public concerns that might happen here again.
“A lot of these individuals, they don’t work in urban policing. So, us working with federal authorities in the policing operations, being out there, actually helps us make sure that we can work in those areas to help control what’s going on,” he said.
“Obviously, I can’t assure you of anything. Obviously, I can assure you every situation is different, right, that officers encounter out there,” he added. “But I think having the relationship and having the federal authorities working with the officers does help to mitigate some of the challenges that we have with that.”
Nadeau’s report on DC cooperation with immigration enforcement
Departing D.C. Councilmember Brianne Nadeau released a scathing report Thursday that’s critical of how MPD and the Bowser administration have cooperated with federal immigration enforcement.
“The primary finding is the loss of trust between the public and MPD,” she told News4. “The challenge that we’re finding is that the mayor and the chief’s interpretation of the Sanctuary Values Act has opened up a vulnerability whereby they are essentially cooperating with ICE in a manner that does not match with the intent of the law.”
Bowser declined to comment on the report.
Carroll said he has not decided whether to make any changes to MPD policies on cooperating with immigration enforcement.
Last month, Councilmember Brooke Pinto, who oversees public safety, sent a letter to the then-chief requesting detailed answers to several questions related to MPD’s cooperation with federal law enforcement. Carroll said Thursday that he will provide a response, which is due to the council by Friday.
In this 4 More Context, News4’s Ted Oberg explains how many people in the D.C. area have been arrested by ICE and why.
Sign up for our free deep-dive newsletter, The 4Front, to get standout News4 stories sent right to your inbox. Subscribe here.
WASHINGTON – A dry and mild Thursday is ahead for the Washington, D.C., region, with highs in the mid‑50s before a rainy start to the weekend.
What we know:
The morning begins on the chilly side with some patchy fog. FOX 5’s Taylor Grenda says conditions stay dry as temperatures climb into the afternoon, with clouds building by evening.
Rain showers may develop late Friday afternoon into the evening, with highs in the upper 50s.
What’s next:
Steadier rain moves in Saturday morning. Temperatures rise into the 60s, but on‑and‑off rain is expected through the afternoon and evening.
Sunday turns much drier, though highs fall back into the 50s. By Monday, colder air returns with highs in the 40s.
The Source: Information in this article comes from the FOX 5 Weather Team and the National Weather Service.
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