Netanyahu travels to the US for first meeting with Trump after the war with Iran
Kyiv • UNN
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will meet with US President Donald Trump at the White House. The meeting will focus on the war with Iran and other regional issues.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will meet with U.S. President Donald Trump at the White House on Tuesday for the first time since the start of the war with Iran, over which they publicly disagree, AFP reports, writes UNN.
Details
As the publication writes, relations between Netanyahu and Trump have periodically appeared tense in recent months, but both have sought to ease the situation.
Tuesday's meeting is expected to focus on the war that began with U.S.-Israeli strikes on Iran in late February, amid Washington's stated desire to give negotiations a chance.
Israel did not participate in the latest round of hostilities between the United States and Iran, which flared up earlier this month after the collapse of the April ceasefire.
Tuesday's meeting will be the eighth between the leaders since Trump returned to office last year, and their first face-to-face talks since the start of the war.
"It is a great privilege, but it is also a great responsibility," Netanyahu said before departing Israel on Monday.
"We will discuss all agenda items, first and foremost Iran. Of course, our goal is to protect our security, as well as to expand the circle of peace around us," he added.
Relations between the two leaders hit their lowest point in April during ceasefire negotiations, when Trump launched profanity-laced tirades against his Israeli ally, the publication notes.
Trump later called Netanyahu a "very difficult person" in an interview.
Netanyahu downplayed these disagreements, calling them "tactical differences," stating that they agree on the goals of the war.
On Tuesday, the leaders are expected to discuss the implementation of a U.S.-backed framework agreement signed by Israel and Lebanon last month, the application of which on the ground has been complicated.
The talks are also expected to touch on Gaza, amid diplomatic efforts to begin rebuilding the devastated Palestinian territory having reached a deadlock. "Nearly three years after the start of the war between Israel and Hamas, the humanitarian situation in Gaza remains dire, and Israel continues to regularly attack people the military calls militants," writes AFP.
For Yonatan Freeman, an international relations expert at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, the main goal of the visit is to dispel reports of cooling relations between the allies.
"I think the main issue... is to show the world, to show Iran, as well as Lebanon and other countries in particular, that there is no rift or any serious disagreements between the United States and Israel," he told AFP.
"There is more agreement than disagreement between the two leaders," he added.
In Freeman's view, any disagreements between Trump and Netanyahu concern the means — timing, intensity, immediate objectives of operations — rather than the goals of the war.
He also suggested that Trump will seek to focus primarily on his two regional priorities, namely Iran and expanding the Abraham Accords, rather than on Gaza, which he considers a lower priority.
But other observers believe the talks could address a possible reduction of Israel's military presence in the region, for example in Lebanon, Syria, or Gaza.
Netanyahu's visit comes a few months before national elections in Israel, in which he plans to run for another term.
Recent polls show Netanyahu trailing, amid lingering public outrage over his government's failure to prevent the Hamas attack on Israel on October 7, 2023, which started the war in Gaza.
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