Trump, top aides express concern over Israel’s West Bank policies in meeting with PM

US President Donald Trump and his top aides expressed concern over several Israeli policies in the West Bank during their meetings Monday with visiting Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in West Palm Beach, a US official told The Times of Israel.

Trump and his senior advisers took particular issue with unchecked settler violence, settlement expansion and Israel’s withholding of several billion dollars in Palestinian Authority tax revenues, which has brought the Ramallah-based government to the brink of collapse, the US official said, confirming a report on the Axios news site.

The official clarified that the conversations on those issues were cordial, even as Washington expressed fear that instability in the West Bank could harm efforts to stabilize the Gaza Strip and expand the Abraham Accords.

Asked whether he raised concern about Israeli settler violence during his meeting with Netanyahu, Trump acknowledged some disagreement, saying: “We have had a big discussion for a long time on the West Bank, and I wouldn’t say we agree on the West Bank 100 percent. But we’ll come to a conclusion on the West Bank.”

The US is said to also be pushing Israel to release several billion dollars in clearance revenues that Jerusalem is withholding from Ramallah, bringing the Palestinian Authority to the brink of collapse.

Israel collects taxes and customs on behalf of the PA, and has periodically refused to make the transfers since the Hamas-led October 7, 2023, attack, with far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich saying the funds support terror. Smotrich has also said he would pursue the collapse of the Palestinian Authority government through “economic strangulation” to prevent the creation of a Palestinian state.

Asked to explain what his West Bank-related disagreements are about, Trump declined to do so, insisting that Netanyahu will ultimately “do the right thing.”

Netanyahu faces significant pressure from far-right coalition partners who back further expansion of settlements, annexation of the West Bank, and the collapse of the Palestinian Authority.

The White House did not respond to a request for comment on the matter.

The past year has seen a surge in attacks by settler extremists on Palestinians and their property across the West Bank. The IDF has recorded more than 752 incidents of nationalistic crime and settler violence since the start of the year. The total for 2024 was 675 incidents.

The attacks, which occur on a near-daily basis, largely go unchecked. Prosecutions of Jewish extremists are rare, and convictions are even rarer. Critics have accused the government, the most right-wing in Israel’s history, of shrugging off the attacks.

Beyond the settler violence, Israel has moved to further entrench its civilian presence in the West Bank, last week announcing 11 new settlements and legalizing eight additional outposts in the territory.

Earlier this month, the United Nations said the expansion of Israeli settlements in the West Bank, which are considered illegal under international law, had reached its highest level since at least 2017. Israel disputes the legal position, citing historic ties to the region and a security imperative in holding on to it.

Despite the disagreements over the West Bank, Monday’s meeting between Trump and Netanyahu was “the best” of the six they have held since the former returned to office, a senior Israeli official who was present at the meeting told The Times of Israel.

“Excellent meeting,” the official said, echoing the impression given by Trump and Netanyahu during a press briefing after the lunchtime summit at the president’s Mar-a-Lago resort.

Trump said that the two sides reached “a lot of conclusions” during the meeting, which addressed how to handle the Iranian threat, Hamas and Hezbollah’s potential disarmament, and other key regional issues.

The two leaders exchanged high praise for each other during the press briefing, with Trump hailing Netanyahu as a “wartime prime minister” who has “done a phenomenal job.”