By Adam Cancryn, CNN
(CNN) — President Donald Trump’s Monday meeting in Florida with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu generated plenty of warm words — but no clear progress in their peace plan for Gaza.
The leaders held a private lunch at Mar-a-Lago aimed at working out a series of issues in the Middle East, as the two sides try to cement a lasting end to Israel’s war with Hamas and ensure broader peace throughout the region.
Trump at the outset of the session told reporters that he planned to speak with Netanyahu about “five major subjects,” later suggesting that they’d come close to settling three of them within the first five minutes of their session.
In addition to Gaza, Trump indicated plans to address issues in the occupied West Bank and potential threats posed by Iran.
But more than an hour later, the two emerged with no new milestones to announce.
Instead, they were seemingly content to shower praise on each other, with Netanyahu going as far as to announce that he planned to award Trump with Israel’s highest civilian excellence honor.
“President Trump has broken so many conventions to surprise people, so we decided to break a convention or create a new one,” Netanyahu said.
Netanyahu’s visit marked the second major trip to Mar-a-Lago by a foreign leader in as many days, as Trump engages in an end-of-year foreign policy flurry.
Here are the takeaways from Monday’s meeting:
Intense flattery, lingering divisions
Trump and Netanyahu spent much of their time in public together exchanging compliments, as both sought to show their relationship remains better than ever despite the occasional strains of the past year — and Trump’s growing wariness of some of Israel’s actions amid his efforts to keep peace in the Middle East.
“We’ve never had a friend like President Trump in the White House. It’s not even close,” Netanyahu said upon his arrival.
Trump returned the favor moments later, asserting that “Israel, with most other leaders, would not exist today.”
“The relationship’s been extraordinary,” Trump said.
The flattery only intensified from there, capped by Netanyahu’s announcement that he would make Trump the first non-Israeli recipient of the Israel Prize for Peace.
Trump, who called the award “really surprising and very much appreciated,” praised Netanyahu as a “wartime” leader and downplayed concerns that Israel is not moving fast enough toward the next phase of the Gaza peace deal. He instead put the onus almost entirely on Hamas.
But he did acknowledge ongoing divisions between the US and Israel, chiefly over the West Bank. Trump has opposed Israel annexing the area, aligning himself with many Western and Arab nations on the issue. The Israeli government, meanwhile, has discussed annexing parts of the West Bank in the past and intensified its military