Many in Gaza and the West Bank are desperate to avoid more years of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s right-wing government, which has made life close to unbearable.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth at an event in Maryland this month. Details of the conversations between Mr. Hegseth and his Israeli counterparts were not immediately clear.
President Trump said Benjamin Netanyahu was a “Great Warrior,” as he faces a tough re-election bid for prime minister. But the Trump brand is not what it once was in Israel, analysts say.
“Bibi Netanyahu has been Strong, Brave, and Brilliant in the face of tremendous opposition,” President Trump wrote of the Israeli prime minister on Sunday.
In the latest surge of violence, settlers targeted Palestinians during the olive harvest, a cultural touchstone and economic lifeline in the Israeli-occupied area.
Mansour Abbas, a dentist-turned-lawmaker, helped oust Benjamin Netanyahu once before. Now, he and a Jewish ex-police commander have teamed up to try to do it again.