“I hope so. But I think time will tell,” he told reporters. He said he thought there had been movement in efforts to forge a ceasefire because of Israeli military pressure and said he would dispatch a team to talks in Rome.
Trump dismissed any suggestion of tensions with Netanyahu.
“We have a very good relationship,” he said, noting policy changes during his presidency including moving the US embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem and pulling the United States out of the international nuclear deal with Iran.
Netanyahu had angered Trump when he congratulated Biden on his victory over Trump in the 2020 election. Trump falsely claims the election was stolen from him by voter fraud.
Trump more recently criticised Netanyahu for Israeli security failures that enabled Hamas to carry out an October 7 attack on Israel that triggered the Israeli offensive in Gaza.
Opinion polls put Harris and Trump in a close race for the White House, prompting world leaders like Netanyahu, traditionally more aligned with Trump’s Republicans than Biden’s Democrats, to strike a balance in dealings with the US
Harris had pressed Netanyahu on the suffering of Palestinians in the enclave in talks on Thursday that were watched for signs of how she might shift American policy if she becomes president.
“I made clear my serious concern about the dire humanitarian situation there,” Harris said.
“I will not be silent.
“Israel has a right to defend itself. And how it does so matters.”
An unnamed Israeli official said it was to be hoped that Harris’ comments would not be interpreted by Hamas as indicating a gap between the United States and Israel “and thus push a deal into the distance”.
In defiant remarks to Congress on Wednesday, Netanyahu defended Israel’s military and dismissed criticism of a campaign which has devastated Gaza and killed more than 39,000 people, according to health officials in the Hamas-ruled enclave.
Dozens of Democrats boycotted Netanyahu’s speech to Congress on Wednesday, voicing dismay over the thousands of civilian deaths in Gaza and the displacement of most of its 2.3 million people.
In Wednesday’s speech, Netanyahu praised Biden’s support for Israel.
But to cheers from Republicans, he touched on Trump’s pro-Israel record as president. He praised Trump’s decision to move the US embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, a long-held goal of conservatives that infuriated Palestinians.
He also cited the Abraham Accords, landmark US-brokered agreements signed during Trump’s White House years that normalised bilateral relations between Israel and both Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates.
Hamas and its allies killed 1200 people and took 250 hostage in the October 7 attack, according to Israeli tallies. Some 115 hostages are still being held though Israel believes one in three are dead. Israeli officials estimate that some 14,000 fighters from militant groups including Hamas and Islamic Jihad have been killed or taken prisoner out of a force they estimated to number more than 25,000 at the start of the war.
