After hurrying to Washington to urge the US president to adopt a more assertive posture in nuclear negotiations with Iran, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu met with Donald Trump at the White House on Wednesday.
Netanyahu’s black SUV bearing the US and Israeli flags arrived at the White House without any ceremony via a side route, marking a low-key entry in contrast to prior trips.
Trump hinted that he was considering deploying a second US “armada” to the Middle East to put pressure on Tehran to agree to a nuclear deal on the eve of the hurriedly scheduled meeting.
What does Netanyahu want to achieve? Netanyahu reportedly pushed forward his visit while the US-Iran negotiations continued, even though he was originally scheduled to travel to Washington for a February 19 meeting of Trump’s “Board of Peace” for Gaza.
On Tuesday evening, he met with Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff, Trump’s Middle East envoys.
As he departed for Washington, Netanyahu stated that the Iran negotiations will be the “first and foremost” topic of discussion. He also mentioned Gaza and other regional concerns.
In a video message, he declared, “I will present to the president our views regarding the principles for the negotiations.” Netanyahu would draw attention to Iran’s missile arsenal, according to his office.
When Iran launched waves of ballistic missiles and other projectiles toward Israeli land last year, hitting both military and civilian areas, Israel’s worries reached a breaking point.
Although Washington also wants Tehran’s ballistic missile program and its backing for regional militant groups to be discussed, Iran has so far refused to broaden the focus of its negotiations with the US beyond the nuclear program.
What is Trump’s opinion?
In an interview with the news source Axios earlier Tuesday, Trump cautioned that he was “thinking” of deploying a second aircraft carrier strike group to the area, even as he boosted expectations of a nuclear agreement.
According to Trump, “either we will reach an agreement or we will have to do something really difficult like last time.” “We have an armada on its way there, and there may be another one coming.”
Trump previously told Fox Business that any agreement would have to include “no nuclear weapons, no missiles.” Trump approved US strikes on Tehran’s nuclear sites during Israel’s 12-day war with Iran last June.
Tehran has been “very dishonest with us over the years,” he continued, adding that Iran’s leaders “want to make a deal,” but “it’s got to be a good deal.”
The West Bank, what about it?
Additionally, the summit will take place while international indignation over Israeli actions to increase control over the occupied West Bank by permitting Israelis to purchase land directly from Palestinian landowners is intensifying.
The action was agreed by Israel’s security cabinet prior to Netanyahu’s travel to Washington. Trump may or may not address it.
While avoiding a direct criticism of the actions of the Israeli government, a U.S. official stated on Monday that Trump “does not support Israel annexing the West Bank” and that he wants stability.
What is the number of meetings? The two leaders will meet Wednesday for the sixth time on US territory since Trump took office again in January 2025; they have already met five times at the White House and once at the Republican’s Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida.
When Trump declared a truce in Gaza in October, a seventh conference was held in Jerusalem.
