WASHINGTON (AP) — Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu attended a memorial service Thursday for two slain Israeli Embassy staffers as he wrapped up a four-day visit to Washington in which talks with President Donald Trump, White House aides and lawmakers focused on finding a pathway to a ceasefire deal in Gaza.
But as Netanyahu gets set to head back to Israel, it is unclear if there was any breakthrough on sealing a Trump-backed 60-day truce between Israel and Hamas, which the U.S. leader believes can lead to a permanent end to the 21-month war in Gaza.
Netanyahu said in a video released Thursday that he is trying to wrap up the U.S.-backed deal but stressed it will be “temporary” and would be aimed at releasing half of the 50 hostages remaining in Gaza, many of them believed dead.
The prime minister also underscored that in any potential ceasefire agreement he will not budge from his fundamental demand that Hamas lay down its arms and no longer have any governing or military capabilities — something the group so far has rejected.
“These are our basic conditions,” Netanyahu said. “If this can be achieved through negotiations — so much the better. If it is not achieved through negotiations in 60 days, we will achieve it in other ways — by using force, the force of our heroic army.”
With his attendance at the memorial for the slain embassy staffers, Netanyahu once again sought to spotlight “antisemitic brutality” that Jews around the globe have faced as the Israeli Defense Forces have waged operations in Gaza.
Yaron Lischinsky, 30, and Sarah Lynn Milgrim, 26, two colleagues who had been on the verge of getting engaged, were fatally shot May 22 as they were leaving a reception for young diplomats at Washington's Capital Jewish Museum.
Sara Netanyahu, the Israeli leader’s wife and a psychologist, signed a letter of condolence at the embassy, saying, “May their memory be blessed.” Family members of the two were among those attending the service, held at the Israeli embassy, the prime minister’s office said in a statement.
A suspect was arrested in the shootings and shouted “Free Palestine” as he was led away. Charging documents said he later told police, “I did it for Palestine, I did it for Gaza.”
Trump views the current moment as a potential turning point in the brutal conflict that has left more than 57,000 dead in the Palestinian territory. The Gaza Health Ministry does not differentiate between civilians and combatants in its death count.
Hamas is still capable of landing fatal blows to Israeli forces. But U.S. officials believe that the group’s been significantly diminished as its centralized command and control capabilities have deteriorated over the course of the conflict. Meanwhile, Hamas’ chief backer Iran was badly battered last month by 12 days of strikes by Israel and the United States on Tehran’s key nuclear facilities.
U.S. officials remain hopeful that restarting high-level negotiations — mediated by Egypt and Qatar and including White House envoy Steve Witkoff — will happen soon and could bring progress.
“We’re closer than we’ve been in quite a while, and we’re hopeful, but we also recognize there’s still some challenges in the way,” U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio told reporters while attending the annual Association of Southeast Asian Nations Regional Forum in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
Senior Trump administration officials, including Witkoff, met with Israeli Minister for Strategic Affairs Ron Dermer as well as Qatari officials at the White House on Tuesday to discuss sticking points in the talks. This included Israel’s desire for its military to retain control over parts of Gaza during a potential 60-day truce, according to a White House official who was not authorized to comment publicly and spoke on the condition of anonymity.
Asked about the meeting this week, Trump did not confirm that “secret” talks had happened, but said if they did, he hoped the engagement “gets us to where we want to be.”
“We want to have peace. We want to get the hostages back. And I think we’re close to doing it,” Trump added.
Federman reported from Jerusalem.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks to the media, Tuesday, July 8, 2025, on Capitol Hill in Washington. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump's photo portrait display at the Smithsonian's National Portrait Gallery has had references to his two impeachments removed, the latest apparent change at the collection of museums he has accused of bias as he asserts his influence over how official presentations document U.S. history.
The wall text, which summarized Trump's first presidency and noted his 2024 comeback victory, was part of the museum's “American Presidents” exhibition. The description had been placed alongside a photograph of Trump taken during his first term. Now, a different photo appears without any accompanying text block, though the text was available online. Trump was the only president whose display in the gallery, as seen Sunday, did not include any extended text.
The White House did not say whether it sought any changes. Nor did a Smithsonian statement in response to Associated Press questions. But Trump ordered in August that Smithsonian officials review all exhibits before the nation celebrates the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence on July 4. The Republican administration said the effort would “ensure alignment with the president’s directive to celebrate American exceptionalism, remove divisive or partisan narratives, and restore confidence in our shared cultural institutions.”
Trump's original “portrait label," as the Smithsonian calls it, notes Trump's Supreme Court nominations and his administration's development of COVID-19 vaccines. That section concludes: “Impeached twice, on charges of abuse of power and incitement of insurrection after supporters attacked the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021, he was acquitted by the Senate in both trials.”
Then the text continues: “After losing to Joe Biden in 2020, Trump mounted a historic comeback in the 2024 election. He is the only president aside from Grover Cleveland (1837– 1908) to have won a nonconsecutive second term.”
Asked about the display, White House spokesman Davis Ingle celebrated the new photograph, which shows Trump, brow furrowed, leaning over his Oval Office desk. Ingle said it ensures Trump's “unmatched aura ... will be felt throughout the halls of the National Portrait Gallery.”
The portrait was taken by White House photographer Daniel Torok, who is credited in the display that includes medallions noting Trump is the 45th and 47th president. Similar numerical medallions appear alongside other presidents' painted portraits that also include the more extended biographical summaries such as what had been part of Trump's display.
Sitting presidents are represented by photographs until their official paintings are commissioned and completed.
Ingle did not answer questions about whether Trump or a White House aide, on his behalf, asked for anything related to the portrait label.
The gallery said in a statement that it had previously rotated two photographs of Trump from its collection before putting up Torok's work.
“The museum is beginning its planned update of the America’s Presidents gallery which will undergo a larger refresh this Spring,” the gallery statement said. “For some new exhibitions and displays, the museum has been exploring quotes or tombstone labels, which provide only general information, such as the artist’s name.”
For now, references to Presidents Andrew Johnson and Bill Clinton being impeached in 1868 and 1998, respectively, remain as part of their portrait labels, as does President Richard Nixon's 1974 resignation as a result of the Watergate scandal.
And, the gallery statement noted, “The history of Presidential impeachments continues to be represented in our museums, including the National Museum of American History.”
Trump has made clear his intentions to shape how the federal government documents U.S. history and culture. He has offered an especially harsh assessment of how the Smithsonian and other museums have featured chattel slavery as a seminal variable in the nation's development but also taken steps to reshape how he and his contemporary rivals are depicted.
In the months before his order for a Smithsonian review, he fired the head archivist of the National Archives and said he was firing the National Portrait Gallery's director, Kim Sajet, as part of his overhaul. Sajet maintained the backing of the Smithsonian's governing board, but she ultimately resigned.
At the White House, Trump has designed a notably partisan and subjective “Presidential Walk of Fame” featuring gilded photographs of himself and his predecessors — with the exception of Biden, who is represented by an autopen — along with plaques describing their presidencies.
The White House said at the time that Trump himself was a primary author of the plaques. Notably, Trump's two plaques praise the 45th and 47th president as a historically successful figure while those under Biden's autopen stand-in describe the 46th executive as “by far, the worst President in American History” who “brought our Nation to the brink of destruction.”
Barrow reported from Atlanta.
People react to a photograph of President Donald Trump on display at the Smithsonian's National Portrait Gallery's "American Presidents" exhibit on Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026 in Washington. (AP Photo/Rod Lamkey, Jr.)
Visitors to the National Portrait Gallery walk past the portrait of President Donald Trump, Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Rod Lamkey, Jr.)
Visitors stop to look at a photograph of President Donald Trump and a short plaque next to it are on display at the Smithsonian's National Portrait Gallery's "American Presidents" exhibit on Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026 in Washington. (AP Photo/Rod Lamkey, Jr.)
A photograph of President Donald Trump and a short plaque next to it are on display at the Smithsonian's National Portrait Gallery's "American Presidents" exhibit on Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026 in Washington. (AP Photo/Anna Johnson)
President Donald Trump speaks during a meeting with oil executives in the East Room of the White House, Friday, Jan. 9, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
