This week on the Jerusalem Post Podcast, Editor-in-Chief Zvika Klein speaks with the Jerusalem Post's incoming diplomatic correspondent, Amichai Stein, about Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's trip to Washington DC to meet President Donald Trump.
Netanyahu will be staying in the White House's official guest house, showing the prime position the Trump administration is giving Israel, Stein says.
However, "Netanyahu will need to wake up," Stein says, warning that if "Netanyahu thinks he has Trump in his pocket," he has another thing coming.
"Trump wants to show he is a good friend of Israel; he's revoked sanctions on settlers, signed Executive Orders against pro-Hamas protestors on US campuses."
"He is focusing on a lot of pro-Israel issues, but when it comes to policy, I'm not sure his policy will be the same as that of Netanyahu."
They highlight the hostage deal as an example, where despite supporting Israel, the deal has remained largely unchanged, even under Trump. Leaving many in Netanyahu's coalition to blame him for failing to convince Trump.
However, Klein highlights that Trump's influence can already be felt in the release of the three Israeli and five Thai hostages released on Thursday.
"The Trump administration wants to continue this hostage deal for as long as it can," says Stein.
Trump wants this deal, and Hamas wants to please Trump
"When this is the policy of the Trump administration, Hamas has a strong interest in appearing as well-behaved partners. They want to show that Trump can sign deals with them and that they stick to them."
Stein says that while some of this is Trump's pressure, another element is that Hamas can sense the changing winds of the new administration.
Whether Trump pushes for a two-state solution is dependent on the Saudi normalization deal because they have pushed for a road map to a Palestinian state as a requirement, Stein says.
He highlights that Steve Witkoff's visit to Saudi Arabia included meetings with Palestinian officials, something unthinkable during Trump's first administration.
"I think the Palestinians understand that they can talk to Trump more than last time."