Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and his wife, Sara, took off from Ben Gurion Airport on the Wing of Zion plane on Sunday evening at about 8:30 p.m. to fly to Washington, D.C., for Netanyahu’s meeting with Trump and senior administration officials this week.

Netanyahu’s departure was delayed for about three and a half hours due to the Chareidi draft law crisis.

Speaking to the press before his departure, Netanyahu emphasized that this will be his third meeting with President Trump in the six months since he was elected and spoke about several issues he intended to discuss with Trump, including how to prevent Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons, the expansion of the Abraham Accords, returning all the hostages from Gaza, and eliminating Hamas’s military capabilities.

US Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee accompanied Netanyahu on the flight.

On Sunday morning, Netanyahu met with President Isaac Herzog and spoke with him about the goals of the visit.

A readout from the President’s Office after the meeting stated that “The President gave full backing to the Prime Minister’s actions on the issue of promoting a hostage deal and emphasized the importance of the trip as a significant step in that direction. He expressed hope that the diplomatic effort may also be an opening for significant regional developments.

“In addition, the two discussed the opportunity to deepen ties with additional countries, in the spirit of the initiative of US President Donald Trump for the Abraham Accords.

Regarding the possible prices of a hostage deal, the President reiterated that he does not take the possible prices lightly and understands the concerns, but he is sure that the cabinet and the security establishment will know how to deal with the challenges as they have so far.

(YWN Israel Desk—Jerusalem)