From the Liveblog of
Sunday, January 18, 2026
Netanyahu meets with Honduras president, says countries ‘refashioning’ their relationship
Nava Freiberg is The Times of Israel's deputy diplomatic correspondent.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu meets with visiting Honduran President-elect Nasry “Tito” Asfura, telling him that they are “refashioning the relationship” between their countries, according to a statement from the premier’s office.
“We’re refashioning the relationship between Israel and Honduras to the traditional lines of friendship, but we want to also seize the future,” the premier tells Asfura in the readout, adding that he looks forward “to working with your government, both in economic fields and agriculture and technology in any of the areas that I think are laid before us.”
Asfura responds that he is “convinced that we will be able to implement everything you said and also lead toward the peace, brotherhood and [the] future of our countries.”
The conservative president-elect, who is of Palestinian Christian descent and is expected to open a friendlier chapter with Israel after four years of leftist rule in his Central American country, met today with President Isaac Herzog and Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar.
Herzog and Asfura discussed strengthening “trade and cooperation” between their countries, and also held an unofficial meeting with US Senator Lindsay Graham, who is visiting Israel as well, according to a readout from Herzog’s office.
The Times of Israel Community.