Dermer meets Trump at Mar-a-Lago before sit-downs with top Biden aides in Washington

Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer met with US President-elect Donald Trump at the latter’s Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida on Sunday, Axios reports, saying the aim of the meeting was for the Netanyahu confidant to pass along messages regarding Israel’s plans for Gaza, Lebanon and Iran over the next two months.

“One of the things the Israelis wanted to sort out with Trump is what are the issues he prefers to see solved before January 20 and what are the issues he prefers the Israelis to wait for him,” a US official tells Axios, noting that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu gave a heads up to the Biden administration about the Mar-a-Lago meeting.

Dermer also met with Trump’s son-in-law and former senior adviser Jared Kushner, who is not slated to play a role in the next administration.

Dermer then traveled to Washington where he met on Monday with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan, White House Mideast czar Brett McGurk and special envoy for Lebanon Amos Hochstein.

In those meetings, the top US and Israeli officials discussed the Wednesday deadline the Biden administration gave Israel to dramatically improve the humanitarian crisis in Gaza at the risk of a partial arms embargo.

They also discussed efforts to secure ceasefires in Gaza and Lebanon, Axios reports.

US officials tell the news site that Netanyahu has conveyed to Washington that he wants the war in Lebanon to end within weeks.

However, Israel is demanding a side letter from the US that includes guarantees from Washington that Israel will be allowed to take military action in Lebanon against Hezbollah if the terror group manages to re-establish its military presence along the border.

The sides have made progress in drafting the letter, a US official says, but it risks opposition from Hezbollah, which has asserted that it won’t accept any deal that allows Israel to resume its military actions in Lebanon.