Israeli PM unlikely to attend Trump’s inauguration, has no official invitation

Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu is unlikely to participate in US President-elect Donald Trump’s inauguration later this month as he has not been formally invited to the event, according to his aide.

The aide told The Times of Israel online newspaper on Thursday that the 75-year-old chairman of right-wing Likud political party would not be in the audience, barring any last-minute changes.

This comes as Israeli authorities had stated in recent weeks that Netanyahu was expected to partake in the January 20 swearing-in, and insisted that he was still planning on doing so even after undergoing prostate removal surgery late last month.

The aide said Netanyahu had not received an official invitation, though it was unclear if he had been informally asked to attend.

Beyond Netanyahu’s medical troubles, the trip would have also been made more fraught by an arrest warrant issued by the International Criminal Court in November for war crimes in Gaza.

Even though the US has said that it will not execute the warrants against the Israeli prime minister and former minister of military affairs Yoav Gallant, they could still be at risk of arrest while traveling should they need to make an emergency landing en route.

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Among those invited to the ceremony or hoping to participate are China’s President Xi Jinping, sources said last month. Xi will not attend, but will send a delegation of senior officials in his place.

Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni said on Thursday that she hoped to attend the inauguration, but was checking her agenda before confirming her presence.

According to the American daily newspaper USA Today, Argentine President Javier Milei has also been invited by Trump’s team, along with El Salvador’s President Nayib Bukele. Hungary’s Prime Minister Viktor Orban has been extended an invitation as well.

There was no comment from the Israeli side or Trump’s team regarding whether Netanyahu had ever received an informal invitation to attend.

Trump and Netanyahu have had a complicated relationship over the years. The two politicians worked closely during Trump’s first presidency, but the partnership plummeted in 2020 when Netanyahu congratulated Joe Biden on his election victory, which Trump to this day contests as fraudulent.

Their relationship seems to have slightly improved in recent months, as Netanyahu visited Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort home in Florida over the summer and was among the first politicians to call and congratulate him after his election win in November.

However, on Wednesday, the president-elect posted a video on his Truth Social account featuring an American professor who referred to Netanyahu as a “dark son of a bitch” who has been “obsessive” about pushing the US towards war with Iran. The video was shared without any caption or context, and Trump has not explained his reasons for posting it. 

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