FINANCIAL TIMES
Marco Rubio meets Benjamin Netanyahu in Israel after Qatar strike
US secretary of state expected to discuss war in Gaza and drive by far-right Israeli ministers to annex areas of West Bank
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, left, and US secretary of state Marco Rubio visit the Western Wall on Sunday © Ariel Schalit/AP
Marco Rubio meets Benjamin Netanyahu in Israel after Qatar strike on x (opens in a new window)
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Neri Zilber in Tel Aviv
Published 4 HOURS AGO ( Sept. 14, 2025)
Updated17:50
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Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has hailed a relationship with the US that has “never been stronger” as secretary of state Marco Rubio visited Jerusalem following Israel’s unprecedented strike targeting Hamas leaders in Qatar.
Rubio and Netanyahu visited Jerusalem’s Western Wall, the holiest site in Judaism, on Sunday and held a prayer ceremony alongside the US ambassador to Israel, Mike Huckabee.
Rubio’s “visit here is testament to the durability and strength of the Israeli-American alliance. It’s as strong and as durable as the stones of the Western Wall that we just touched,” said Netanyahu.
“Under President Trump and Secretary Rubio this alliance has never been stronger.”
Rubio told reporters before leaving for Israel that Donald Trump was “not happy” with the brazen Israeli strike on Doha last Tuesday, but added that US-Israel ties would “remain strong”.
“What’s happened has happened. Obviously we’re not happy about it . . . now we need to move forward and figure out what comes next,” Rubio said at Joint Base Andrews in Maryland on Saturday, adding: “It’s not going to change the nature of our relationship with the Israelis.”
Israeli jets struck the Hamas headquarters in Doha last Tuesday, killing five low-ranking officials from the group and a Qatari security officer. Hamas denied that any of its senior leaders were harmed.
Israel has yet to officially comment on the results of the strike, but there is a growing sense among Israeli officials and security analysts that the unprecedented assault on a major non-Nato US ally did not achieve its aims.
Rubio and Trump met Qatari Prime Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman al-Thani in New York on Friday.
In Israel, Rubio was also expected to meet with senior officials and to visit the City of David archaeological site in East Jerusalem, a controversial location in the Palestinian neighbourhood of Silwan, which has in recent years increasingly been populated by Israeli Jewish settlers.
Rubio dismissed concerns raised by reporters about the visit. “It’s one of the most important archaeological sites in the world. I’ve visited it numerous times in the past,” he said before leaving.
“I understand people want to involve politics in it. I understand everything in this region is political to some extent.”
The top US envoy was also expected to discuss Israel’s next steps in the war with Hamas in Gaza, as Israel escalates its air offensive on Gaza City ahead of a threatened ground assault.
A plume of smoke is seen after an Israeli air strike in Gaza City on Sunday © Ebrahim Hajjaj/Reuters
Israel’s military has called for the entire civilian population to evacuate southwards within the devastated enclave. Over the past week Israeli strikes have destroyed multiple high-rise buildings in Gaza City, with the military saying they hosted Hamas observation posts.
Rubio told reporters that Trump wanted the war “to be finished with”. Trump “wants Hamas defeated, he wants the war to end, he wants all 48 [Israeli] hostages home, including those that are deceased, and he wants it all at once”, Rubio said.
“And we’ll have to discuss about how the events last week had an impact on the ability to achieve that in short order.”
Ahead of the attack on its Doha headquarters, Hamas leaders are believed to have convened there to discuss the latest US ceasefire proposal.
Netanyahu said on X on Saturday that “the Hamas terrorists chiefs living in Qatar don’t care about the people in Gaza” and had blocked earlier ceasefire attempts. “Getting rid of them would rid the main obstacle to releasing all our hostages and ending the war,” he added.
Qatari officials have denounced the Israeli strike as “state terrorism” and were set to hold an emergency summit in Doha on Monday of leaders from Arab and Islamic countries to decide on a unified strategy in response.
Israeli media also reported that Rubio and Netanyahu would discuss the public push by several far-right Israeli ministers to annex swaths of the occupied West Bank, nominally in retaliation for an upcoming drive at the UN General Assembly to recognise Palestinian statehood.
It remains unclear whether the Trump administration will support the annexation. Senior US officials, including Rubio, had previously blamed the potential seizure of the West Bank land on the Palestinian side and western governments, including the UK, France and Australia, that are set to recognise the state of Palestine.
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