Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu gifted US President Donald Trump with a golden pager and a standard pager when the two leaders met at the White House on Tuesday. This gift was an acknowledgement of the lethal pager attack carried out by Israel against Iran in September, as reported by The Jerusalem Post. Trump was very thankful for it, even making a remark: “That Was A Great Operation,” in reference to the attack.
As a return gift, Trump gave Netanyahu a photo of the two of them from the visit with a message reading, “To Bibi, a great leader.”
Hezbollah agents in Lebanon were attacked in September when their pagers detonated, resulting in a heavy toll of causalities. The Israeli Mossad was later identified by Netanyahu to have been responsible for this action. He okayed the installation of explosives on pagers purchased by Hezbollah; these pagers then exploded killing 39 of its agents while leaving around 3,000 wounded.
Since Hamas’ attacks on Israeli towns at the end of October sparked off the war in Gaza, tension between Israel and Hezbollah has remained at an elevated level.
Netanyahu, in the US for talks with Trump on the Gaza ceasefire and future Middle East plans, praised Trump as “the greatest friend Israel has ever had.” Trump expressed his readiness to “take over” the Gaza Strip if necessary and highlighted his vision for the region’s future. Netanyahu commended Trump’s leadership on issues like the Gaza hostage deal, calling it historic.
