Courtesy of JNS. Photo credit: Avi Ohayon/GPO
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu met with U.S. President Donald Trump at the White House, Feb. 4, 2025
(JNS) — Yechiel Leiter, the Israeli ambassador to the United States, told JNS on Friday that “there is no daylight between Israel and the United States on the release of all hostages and destruction of Hamas.”
Leiter spoke to JNS amid reporting, citing anonymous officials, that tensions have risen between Jerusalem and Washington after the White House said that it was meeting directly with Hamas, a U.S.-designated terror group.
Washington has said that it notified Jerusalem ahead of time. The Israeli prime minister’s office announced on Wednesday that “Israel has expressed to the United States its position regarding direct talks with Hamas.”
Some of the news reports cited Israeli officials, who said that the Jewish state was sabotaging the Trump administration’s meetings with Hamas. Leiter told JNS that there was no such gap between Israel and the United States.
“Not even a sliver,” the Israeli envoy said.
