US President Donald Trump is intent on avoiding a public spat with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, even when there are gaps between the pair on key policies regarding the Middle East, a US official and a Republican source familiar with the matter told The Times of Israel on Tuesday.

Trump currently believes that public disagreements with Netanyahu will serve neither his political nor strategic interests, particularly in the Gaza Strip, where he aims to announce a transition to phase two of his peace plan within weeks, the two sources said, speaking on condition of anonymity.

“While some of us working for the president have gotten frustrated with Bibi and feel he has been dragging his feet on phase two of the Gaza deal, the president has intentionally been shielded from those conversations,” the US official said, referring to Netanyahu by his nickname.

After phase one of the plan commenced in October with a fraught ceasefire and hostage deal, the US has sought to move to the next stage, which is supposed to see the establishment of governing and security mechanisms responsible for the postwar management of Gaza in place of Hamas.

That transition has been marred by Hamas’s failure to return all of the slain hostages and, most critically, the terror group’s refusal to decommission its weapons.

But the US official said Israeli policies have also complicated the process, pointing to what Washington has sometimes felt have been unnecessary IDF strikes in Gaza; Israeli pushback on Turkish involvement in the Strip, which the administration believes is critical to keep Hamas in check; and Jerusalem’s refusal to allow the Rafah Border Crossing between Egypt and Gaza to reopen in both directions.

Trump and his top aides raised the latter issue during their Monday meetings with Netanyahu in West Palm Beach and believe that the private appeals will lead to an Israeli announcement in the coming days of Rafah’s........

© The Times of Israel