THE POINT – Tensions at Mar-a-Lago: the face-to-face meeting between Trump and Netanyahu between Gaza and the Somaliland case
It won’t be a courtesy visit that you will see engaged in Benjamin Netanyahu at Mar-a-Lago next Monday. In the aftermath of the summit with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, Donald Trump is preparing to receive the Israeli Prime Minister in a climate of growing pressure. The Tycoon is in fact determined to push the accelerator for the launch of “phase two” of the plan for Gaza, while at the same time trying to recompose diplomatic harmony undermined by recent and profound divergences.
The rift over Somaliland
The latest battleground concerns the Somaliland. The Tel Aviv government recently announced the official recognition of this territory, making Israel the first UN member country to take this step. Although Somaliland’s president, Abdirahman Mohamed Abdullahi, celebrated the event as the start of a “historic partnership”, the move sparked a chorus of international condemnation.
The Somalia denounced a “deliberate attack” on its sovereignty, obtaining the convening of an urgent meeting of the UN Security Council. Turkey, the African Union and the Gulf states also expressed strong dissent. Even Donald Trump was skeptical: despite declaring that the issue will be “studied and evaluated”, the US leader initially offered a flat refusal, provocatively dismissing the matter with the question: “Does anyone really know what Somaliland is?”.
Strategies in the Red Sea and the future of Gaza
According to analysts, Netanyahu’s choice responds to a specific strategy: to strengthen alliances in Red Sea — also in view of possible operations against the Houthis — to compensate for the stalemate in normalization with the Arab world caused by the conflict in Gaza.
However, the heart of the conversation in Florida will remain the future of the Strip. Trump is pushing for the implementation of the second phase of the peace agreement, which provides for the establishment of a technocratic Palestinian government and the deployment of an international stabilization force. The Tycoon’s goal is to get to the World Economic Forum Davosin January, with solid foundations for a definitive resolution that includes the disarmament of Hamas and the withdrawal of Israeli troops.
The skepticism of “Bibi”
Netanyahu, for his part, has already expressed strong skepticism towards the plans drawn up by Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff. According to sources close to Axiosthe Israeli Prime Minister will try to take advantage of Monday’s meeting to bring Trump back to his positions, trying to stem an American pressure that is becoming more insistent every hour.
