Why this time around, Netanyahu’s meeting with Trump might not go to script

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has been visiting the US President for years. Donald Trump In Washington, he followed a choreographed script: a red carpet, a warm handshake and shared messages about the closeness of the Israel-US alliance.

But the relationship has changed markedly since the two last met five months ago. Close cooperation and enthusiastic praise from the beginning Iran war It replaced Trump’s expletive-laden outbursts against his most vocal international defender.

This is Netanyahu’s seventh visit to the United States since Trump came to power; This is more than any other world leader. But this time he arrives in Washington as a leader facing re-election and tries to maintain a relationship that has become visibly strained.

Netanyahu has been trying for several weeks to get an invitation to the White House to discuss progress in the Iran war and warn Trump against diplomatic concessions, according to a US official and an Israeli source.

The US official said Trump resisted the meeting and that some White House officials were frustrated by what they saw as Israeli efforts to secure a meeting through media leaks – to “make a meeting happen”. This week’s U.S. Senator’s funeral. Lindsey Graham although of secondary importance to the larger event, it provided a seating opportunity.

A senior US administration official said Trump had a “strong relationship” with Netanyahu and that Israel had “no greater friend” than the American president. “Americans and our allies around the world are already safer from bold actions by the United States and Israel to deny the Iranian regime the ability to develop nuclear weapons,” the official told CNN.

At their last meeting in February, the two leaders laid the groundwork for what would become an agreement. joint military campaign against Iran. The war’s opening offensives became a showcase of unprecedented military coordination that Netanyahu and Trump both eagerly encouraged and praised. But as the war dragged on and they failed to achieve the overly optimistic goal of overthrowing the Iranian regime, the gulf between them became clear: Netanyahu wanted to keep pressing, Trump wanted a way out.

Before the war, Trump had been convinced by the prime minister and others that the conflict would be contained and would last several weeks. A few months later, according to a US official, his anger at the current situation – an uneasy and deadly stalemate – led to profanity-filled private meetings and anger at the regime in Tehran for not being able to tolerate it as he once expected.

An Israeli source said Netanyahu planned to provide Trump with new intelligence on the status of Iran’s nuclear and military reconstruction, but Israel assessed that “Trump has little interest in continuing a full-blown fight, at least before the American elections in November.”

The Israeli leader has avoided publicly confronting Trump over the sudden ceasefire in April, but his political allies have harshly criticized the deal with Iran and pro-Netanyahu media outlets have openly targeted the architects of the deal: Vice President JD Vance, Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff. Vance, on the other hand, accused members of Netanyahu’s cabinet of working to sabotage Iran negotiations and sway American public opinion against the deal, and warned that Israel was alienating “the only strong ally they have left.”

According to officials, Trump is acutely aware of the political pressures Netanyahu faces ahead of Israel’s national elections in October and knows his support for the prime minister could be critical. Recognizing this advantage, Trump has selectively shown support, including saying last week that Netanyahu would not be arrested if he came to the United States, after New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani refused to renege on a campaign promise.

Trump did not hold Netanyahu responsible for this situation, at least not publicly. But he called him “crazy” and “difficult” for continuing a bombing campaign that threatened the ceasefire in Lebanon. And she scolded him on the phone for straying from Trump’s war goals.

This difference of purpose extends beyond Iran.

Lebanon has become another point of friction as Trump forces Netanyahu to abandon the fight against Hezbollah. “Everybody hates you now… that’s why everybody hates Israel,” he told Netanyahu in a phone call reported by Axios in early June.

Israel finally agreed to a tripartite agreement with Lebanon a month ago but is rejecting it retreat Entirely from southern Lebanon without disarmament of Hezbollah first. Netanyahu told his security cabinet on Sunday that the Trump administration wants to withdraw Israeli forces from their positions in Lebanon as well as Gaza and Syria, according to an Israeli source with knowledge of the meeting.

According to the source’s information to CNN, Netanyahu announced that he intends to oppose this idea.

Alongside long-running regional conflicts, two other issues have emerged in recent weeks: Trump’s potential plans to sell advanced stealth F-35 fighter jets to Türkiye and the US-Saudi civil nuclear deal. Israeli officials worry that the former could erode the country’s qualitative military superiority, while the latter could trigger a regional nuclear arms race. Trump explicitly linked the Saudi deal to normalization with Israel and expansion of the Abraham Accords, but Riyadh has not confirmed or acknowledged such a link.

Türkiye and Netanyahu were asked about possible warplane sales on Monday opposition To such an agreement, Trump responded that “no one” could dictate the sales but himself, calling Türkiye a “tremendous ally.”

Before leaving on Monday, Netanyahu said he plans to discuss all the issues on the agenda, especially Iran. Naturally, our goal is to protect our security and at the same time expand the circle of peace around us.

The Israeli source said Netanyahu will seek assurances that any arms sales to Türkiye or nuclear cooperation with Saudi Arabia will not jeopardize Israel’s military superiority and that there will be no progress on a new long-term US-Israeli defense agreement to replace the Obama-era memorandum of understanding that will expire.

“Netanyahu wants to get out of the war and move on to other things (e.g. a security agreement, perhaps normalization with Saudi Arabia) and ensure he coordinates with Trump on issues he can use in the elections,” the source said. The source told CNN that he believes direct interaction with Trump could resolve disagreements within the administration.

Netanyahu, for his part, described the frictions as “tactical” disagreements and insisted the relationship was as close as ever. But an Israeli official said planning to meet Trump took time and was initially “blocked,” though it was unclear by whom. The meeting was approved only after Netanyahu announced that he would attend Graham’s funeral.

The stakes for Netanyahu are higher than ever. According to the latest polls, he is well short of the majority needed to secure another term in the October election. Trump has long been one of his most valuable assets in the campaign, demonstrating the continued influence of Netanyahu on Washington affairs, who still hopes to host him in Israel for a pre-election visit.

It’s worth noting that the meeting is not currently planned to include a public photo opportunity. However, their meeting in February was also kept away from cameras due to sensitive military planning before the war. Discretion this time could obscure tensions around next action against Iran or the next ceasefire.

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