Jewish Home Leader Hails ‘New Era’ in Mideast

The head of Israel’s rightwing Jewish Home party welcomed what he is calling a “new era” following the White House press conference with President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu.

In a tweet, Naftali Bennett said that the “Palestinian flag was removed from the staff and replaced with an Israeli flag.”

Bennett, a powerful coalition partner in Netanyahu’s government, is a leading opponent of Palestinian statehood and believes Israel should instead annex occupied lands.

At the press conference, both Trump and Netanyahu were evasive about endorsing a two-state solution with the Palestinians, the international community’s preferred solution for nearly two decades.

In his tweet, Bennett said the prime minister “displayed leadership and daring and fortified Israel’s security.”

Netanyahu vouched for President Trump as the two leaders appeared together at a joint press conference.

“There is no greater supporter of the Jewish people and the Jewish state than President Donald Trump,” the Israeli premier said.

Netanyahu says that he’s known Trump, members of Trump’s team and his family for many years. That includes Trump’s son-in-law and senior adviser Jared Kushner, whom Netanyahu has known since Kushner was young.

Netanyahu says he thinks any insinuation otherwise should be put “to rest.”

Trump noted that his daughter, Ivanka, and son-in-law, Jared Kushner, and their three children are Jewish. “You’re going to see a lot of love” in the United States, he said.