Netanyahu denies report that he spoke with Trump about hostage deal

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu denied a report that he spoke with former President Donald Trump about a hostage deal with Hamas, saying the two didn’t speak at all.

On Wednesday, Axios, citing two sources familiar with the matter, reported that Trump spoke with Netanyahu on Wednesday evening, with one suggesting that Trump may have told him to accept a hostage deal. The following morning, Netanyahu’s office denied any such call had taken place.

“Contrary to media reports, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu did not speak yesterday with former President Donald Trump,” a statement from Netanyahu’s office said, according to Reuters.

Israel is set to reenter hostage negotiation discussions with Hamas in high-level talks on Thursday in Doha, Qatar, with Egypt, the United States, and Qatar mediating.

Netanyahu met with Trump personally at his Mar-a-Lago estate while visiting the U.S. last month. The two were close during Trump’s presidency but have since had a falling out after Netanyahu was one of the first to congratulate President Joe Biden on his victory in 2020.

Trump has pitched himself as a staunch ally of Israel and repeatedly claimed that any Jewish person who votes for the Democrats needs to get “their head examined.” However, he has also sought to make inroads with Palestinians, repeatedly stressing the need to end the war in Gaza quickly and establish a hostage deal.

Tensions in the Middle East were steadily rising after Hamas’s Oct. 7 surprise attack against Israel but have reached a fever pitch in recent months. As fighting winds down in the Gaza Strip, Israel is turning its attention to Lebanon, where its foremost nonstate rival, Hezbollah, is based. Rumors of another invasion of Lebanon have grown as skirmishes along the border escalate.

Israel has been bracing for a massive retaliation from Hezbollah and its foremost sponsor, Iran, since Hamas political head Ismail Haniyeh was assassinated while visiting Tehran, hours after the assassination of a senior Hezbollah commander in Beirut. Iran and Hezbollah have vowed retaliation, but the world is still waiting two weeks later.

Three Iranian officials, including two members of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, told the New York Times on the day of the assassination of Haniyeh that Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei issued an order to strike Israel directly in retaliation in an emergency meeting of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council.

The U.S. and Israel have repeatedly warned of the imminence of an Iranian attack, but the lack of one has puzzled observers and allies alike. White House National Security Council spokesman John Kirby warned that despite the wait, an attack could occur at any time.

“We have information … that an attack could come with little or no warning and certainly could come in coming days, and we have to be ready for it,” Kirby said in a phone briefing, the Times of Israel reported.