Netanyahu Joins Trump to Ring in the New Year in Florida
He was the only foreign leader invited to the special event.
This article originally appeared on Antiwar.com and was republished with permission.
Guest post by Dave DeCamp
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu attended President Trump’s New Year’s Eve party at Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach, Florida, on Wednesday night, days after the two leaders held a meeting where they discussed another potential attack on Iran.
“At the invitation of US President Donald Trump and his wife Melania, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his wife Sara took part yesterday (Wednesday) in the New Year celebrations at Mar-a-Lago,” Netanyahu’s office said in a statement on Thursday.
“Prime Minister Netanyahu was the only foreign leader invited to the event, and the only one to have ever taken part in the President’s Gala,” the statement added.
According to The Times of Israel, other notable attendees included former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani and Emirati billionaire Hussain Sajwani, along with Trump’s sons Eric and Don Jr., and top members of the Trump administration, including Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem and White House Deputy Chief of Staff Dan Scavino.
During their meeting at Mar-a-Lago on Monday, Trump said he would back another Israeli attack on Iran if Tehran “continues” its conventional missile program or rebuilds its nuclear program, signaling another US-Israeli war against the Islamic Republic is coming in 2026. Trump also claimed Israel is upholding the Gaza ceasefire deal despite constant IDF violations, which have killed at least 416 Palestinians since the agreement went into effect.
Netanyahu, who is wanted by the International Criminal Court (ICC) for his role in war crimes in Gaza, said that Trump would be awarded the Israel Prize, an award handed out by the State of Israel that has never before been given to a non-Israeli.
During his time in Florida, Netanyahu also met with Christian Zionist leaders. “You are representatives of the Christian Zionists who made Jewish Zionism possible,” Netanyahu told the group. “It’s hard for me to conceive of the emergence of the Jewish state, the re-emergence of the Jewish state, without the support of Christian Zionists in the United States, also in Britain, but the main thrust was in the United States in the 19th century.”
Netanyahu also told the group that Israel was protecting Christians, a claim that received strong pushback from Palestinian Christians. “Israel has failed to protect Christians in the Holy Land,” Khalil Sayegh, a Christian from Gaza and founder of the Agora Initiative.
“[Israel] has bombed churches and killed Christians, including my late father and my younger sister, and it has protected settler terrorism against Christians in the West Bank. Netanyahu is a liar and is using the Christians,” Sayegh added.
Israeli media reported that Netanyahu has left the US and returned to Israel. His trip marked his fifth visit to the US in 2025 and his sixth meeting with President Trump that year.
Copyright 2026 Antiwar.com
Absolutely brilliant reporting on this. The exclusivity of Netanyahu being the only foreign leader at Mar-a-Lago really underscores how this relationship is reshaping Middle East policy before inauguration even wraps. The timing here is what gets me though, coming right after those conversations about potential Iran strikes it's almost like we're watching foreign policy being conducted in a social setting rather than through official diplomatic channels. I've seen this sorta thing play out before in smaller contexts and when geopolitical decisions start blending with personal relationships like this the unpredictabiliy factor goes way up.
Why did I have that nauseous feeling in my gut when I read that?