Rabat – Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu made a surprise trip to Washington, arriving on Sunday night, April 6, marking his second visit to the US since President Donald Trump’s January inauguration. 

Trump and Netanyahu discussed a range of issues, including Israel’s renewed assault on Gaza, Iran, and Trump’s recent decision to impose a 17% tariff on Israeli imports. Netanyahu has stated that he would be the first to discuss the tariffs in person with Trump.

During their meeting, Trump revealed that the US is engaged in direct talks with Iran, with a “big meeting” scheduled for Saturday, April 12. Trump, who withdrew from the 2015 nuclear deal in 2018, reiterated that Iran “can’t have nuclear weapons” and threatened consequences if negotiations don’t go his way.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi contradicted Trump shortly after, clarifying that any upcoming discussions would be indirect and calling the situation “as much an opportunity as it is a test. The ball is in America’s court.”

Netanyahu asserted that both Israel and the U.S. are “united” in preventing Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons—despite both nations maintaining large nuclear arsenals themselves. Israel’s is estimated at 60–400 nuclear warheads, while the US  holds around 3,700.

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On Gaza, Trump claimed he wanted the “war” to end, but reiterated his earlier proposal to “own” and “redevelop” Gaza by forcibly relocating its indigenous Palestinian population to neighboring countries, openly suggesting the occupation of Gaza as a desirable outcome. 

He added he didn’t understand “why Israel ever gave up Gaza,” inadvertently revealing that the goal was never to free the Israeli captives in Gaza, but rather the ethnic cleansing and permanent control of Gaza.

There was no mention of Trump relinquishing the 17% tariff, ​​once asked by the press, Trump said “Not sure,” the US president said. “We’ll see. We give Israel billions of dollars, $4 billion a year, among the highest. We take care of our friends, not our enemies.”

Israeli outlet The Jerusalem Post framed the visit as a pivot from “Biden’s cold shoulder to Trump’s open door,” signaling a shift from strained ties under Biden to ideological alignment under Trump. 

Israeli media highlighted a transition from a “looming crisis” under the Biden administration to “a working assumption of close alignment” with Trump. However, both have supplied Israel with billions in military aid and unconditional diplomatic support, reinforcing its genocide in Gaza despite overwhelming evidence from Palestinians, human rights organizations, and ICC-issued arrest warrants against Netanyah and his former defence minister Yoav Gallant.

While liberal US media insist that Trump has completely shifted policies in Gaza, Palestinian and pro-Palestinian voices that the policy remains the genocide in Gaza, much like the bombs that have rendered Gaza into complete ruin, has always been made in the USA. 

Selective justice

As Israel’s genocide in Gaza enters its 18th month with a death toll conservatively estimated at 50,000, mostly civilians and children, international efforts have yielded little meaningful action. However, Israel’s global isolation is slowly growing, and its leaders are beginning to feel the consequences. 

Netanyahu reportedly rerouted his flight to Washington by 400 km to avoid Irish, Icelandic, and Dutch airspace, fearing enforcement of his ICC arrest warrant for war crimes committed in Gaza from October 2023 to May 2024.

Hungary, where Netanyahu’s trip began, announced its intention to withdraw from the ICC upon his arrival in an attempt to shield itself from international law and moral accountability. Meanwhile, Belgian Prime Minister Bart De Wever declared that Netanyahu would not be arrested if he visited Belgium, stating: “There is such a thing as realpolitik… I don’t think there is a single European country that would arrest Netanyahu.”

This selective application of justice has drawn criticism, with many pointing to the hypocrisy of European governments. While they claim to uphold the lessons of the jewish Holocaust, their inaction, and complicity undermines the idea that genocide is universally condemned.

Many argue that the Holocaust is treated as uniquely evil not because of its horror, but because its victims were European– As Europe cried “Never Again,” it watches in silence as genocide unfolds in real time against non-white people, on their phones, 24/7.