Netanyahu takes off for Florida ahead of Trump meet

Lazar Berman is The Times of Israel's diplomatic reporter

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu boards the Wing of Zion plane at Ben Gurion Airport ahead of a trip to the United States, February 2, 2025. (Avi Ohayon/GPO)
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu boards the Wing of Zion plane at Ben Gurion Airport ahead of a trip to the United States, February 2, 2025. (Avi Ohayon/GPO)

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has taken off from rainy Ben Gurion Airport headed for sunny Florida, where he is set to meet with US President Donald Trump tomorrow, according to his office.

The visit to Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach is expected to focus on the future of the Gaza Strip and ongoing threats from Hezbollah and Iran.

The premier is not flying with journalists and does not make any public statement before getting on the plane. He is slated to land in Florida at 2 p.m. local time.

Netanyahu’s trip is slated to last until Thursday, though his schedule is fairly sparse. Trump, who is meeting Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky today, is expected to be on the golf course for much of the week, according to the Associated Press.

Flight tracker data shows Netanyahu’s plane, dubbed Wing of Zion, some 34,000 feet above the Mediterranean. According to Flightradar24, around 1,000 people are tracking the flight, making it the website’s most watched trip.

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