Netanyahu attends Trump's New Year's Eve party after meeting with Christian Zionists

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu made an appearance at the US president's annual New Year's Eve gala in Palm Beach, Florida on Wednesday.

A brief video, first captured by Donald Trump's social videographer Michael Solakiewicz, showed Netanyahu arriving at the party in a tuxedo alongside his wife Sara. 

The prime minister's office later posted images to his X account. 

While it is not uncommon to see US lawmakers, diplomats and celebrities at Trump's annual party, it is unusual for a sitting foreign leader to attend, given the event is not an official state banquet, but rather a private party. 

The prime minister's office later said that Netanyahu received a personal invitation from Trump, after also hosting him at the White House six times since February. 

Before kicking off the New Year's Eve celebration, Netanyahu met with Evangelical leaders in the US to tout the necessity of upholding and promoting Christian Zionism. 

"Christian Zionism facilitated the rise and success of Jewish Zionism," Netanyahu said in his remarks.

"I can say that we have no better friends," he added.

"Now we're challenged by new challenges, but equally with new opportunities. We fought, as you know, a seven-front war, and we've come out in many ways victorious. But there's an eighth front and that's the front for the hearts and minds of people, especially young people in the West, and for me, especially in the United States, and for me, especially on the conservative wing of the United States," Netanyahu emphasised. 

In recent months, some of Trump's loudest and most influential supporters have amped up their criticism of Israel, leading to a fracture on the political right. 

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Netanyahu announced on Monday that he was awarding Israel's highest cultural honour, the Israel Prize, to the US president "for his tremendous contributions to Israel and the Jewish people". 

The prize has never been awarded to a non-Israeli citizen before.

Not to be outdone, Trump lavished Netanyahu with praise at their Mar-a-Lago meeting, repeatedly calling him a "wartime prime minister at the highest level". 

By the end of the day, the US Department of War revealed that Boeing had been awarded a nearly $8.6bn contract to make up to 50 F-15 fighter jets for Israel. 

During his visit to the US, Netanyahu held meetings with Trump's cabinet, as well as US lawmakers. 

In an interview with the Trump-aligned television channel Newsmax, Netanyahu continued to make his years-long case for a US attack on Iran.

"They were throwing their weight all over the place, exporting terrorism not only to every part of the Middle East, but to Venezuela. They're in cahoots with the Maduro regime," he claimed. 

The Trump administration has been openly threatening Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro with a US invasion and regime change. The US has launched nearly a dozen strikes on vessels in the Caribbean Sea the Trump administration alleges are drug boats coming from Venezuela.

"They're exporting terrorism to America, to the American hemisphere," Netanyahu said about Iran. "I think we've dealt them devastating blows, but there's still some work to be done with the proxies, and we're doing it."