Although Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his coalition leaders are delighted with the new appointments of members of US President-elect Donald Trump’s team, who are clearly pro-Israel, political circles in Tel Aviv confirm that the main message that Israel will hear from the incoming Trump administration is a firm demand to end the war, indicating that Trump is betting that Netanyahu will also make bold decisions to resolve the conflict.

These circles said that Israeli Minister of Strategic Affairs Ron Dermer, who is spending a four-day visit to the United States to meet with a number of senior officials in President Joe Biden's administration, first met with President-elect Trump at the Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida. According to the American website "Axios" and its correspondent in Tel Aviv, Barak Ravid, Dermer conveyed messages from Netanyahu to Trump and informed him of Israel's plans regarding Gaza, Lebanon and Iran over the next two months before the president-elect takes office in the White House. He said that Netanyahu is interested in knowing what the new president expects and wants because he wants to work closely with him.

“One of the things the Israelis wanted to work out with Trump was what issues the president-elect would prefer to see resolved before January 20, and what issues the Israelis would prefer to wait until he takes office,” one US official told the news site. Netanyahu specifically chose Dermer for the job because he is personally known to Trump and members of his team. He is American by birth. He served as Israel’s ambassador to Washington during Trump’s first term. He has built close ties with all segments of the Republican Party and has clashed with Democratic Party leaders. He has worked closely with Trump and maintained ties with him after his 2020 election defeat.

In this context, and in light of the enthusiasm shown by the extreme right and considering Trump’s election an opportunity to annex the West Bank to Israel and impose Israeli sovereignty over the settlements, the Times of Israel newspaper said that at least two officials on Trump’s team from the previous term warned senior Israeli ministers against assuming that the president-elect would support Israel’s annexation of the West Bank in his second term.

“I think it’s important for those in Israel who are celebrating President Trump’s victory to do so because of the strong support President Trump has for Israel, as evidenced by the many historic things he has done during his first term,” the newspaper quoted Jason Greenblatt, Trump’s former Middle East envoy, as saying. “But to some Israeli ministers who think that extending Israeli sovereignty into Judea and Samaria (the West Bank) is now a done deal, take a breath. Hold on. If I were an adviser to these ministers, I would recommend that they focus first on working closely with Prime Minister Netanyahu to enable him to strengthen Israel’s relationship with the United States and allow him to work on the enormous threats and challenges that Israel now faces. There will be time to have a discussion about Judea and Samaria, but the context and timing are important.”