Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his wife Sara boarded their aircraft for the trip to Washington Monday afternoon, along with several senior aides. Before leaving, Netanyahu told reporters that he looked forward to his meeting with US President Donald Trump at the White House on Wednesday, while adding that he will also be meeting with several other senior Administration officials and leaders from both parties in Congress.

The US blocked a move at the United Nations over the weekend that would have allowed Secretary-General Antonio Guterres’ to appoint former Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Salam Fayyad as the UN’s representative to Libya on Friday. Nikki Haley, US ambassador to the UN, said in a statement that the US “does not currently recognize a Palestinian state or support the signal this appointment would send within the United Nations.”

A delegation of NFL football players and coaches arrived in Israel for the start of a goodwill tour on Monday, despite having lost three of the originally planned participants who dropped out as a protest against Israel. Seattle Seahawks defensive end Michael Bennett said he did not want to be “used” by the Israeli government as an “ambassador of goodwill” because he disagrees with many policies of the Israeli government and he was joined by his brother Martellus who plays for the Superbowl champion New England Patriots and Kenny Stills of the Miami Dolphins.

UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres was in Saudi Arabia over the weekend where he told reporters, among other things, that “one of the things that fuel terrorism is the expression in some parts of the world of Islamophobic feelings and Islamophobic policies and Islamophobic hate speeches.” He added that the Islamic State (IS) terror militia and similar groups used such “Islamophobic” material in their propaganda to portray themselves as victims and drum up support among what might otherwise be disinterested Moslem populations, particularly in Western countries.

In yet another blow to the international effort to Boycott, Divest and Sanction (BDS) Israel, the government of the Canadian province of Ontario announced over the weekend that it is launching a joint initiative with Israel to conduct research and development of cyber-security for the financial services sector. The initiative is open for private sector involvement as well, with private firms and government agencies in both countries eagerly signing up to participate.

Israel is a very pro-American country, possibly more so than any other country in the world. As in the past, Israelis followed the US presidential election with great interest, amazed that the American political system had not produced more palatable presidential candidates. After eight years of a frosty relationship with the US Commander in Chief, many Israelis cautiously welcome the advent of Donald Trump.