- Netanyahu to meet Trump at the White House Tuesday; he departs Monday and will attend Senator Lindsey Graham’s funeral.
- The two have met six times since Trump’s return, most recently Feb 11, after launching a joint war against Iran in late February.
- Relations have shown strain over military pressure versus diplomacy on Iran; April ceasefire talks collapsed and Trump publicly criticized Netanyahu.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will meet US President Donald Trump at the White House on Tuesday, the Israeli leader’s office said.
Since Trump’s return to office last year, the two have already met six times, most recently on February 11 in Washington.
But this visit comes at a time when disagreements between them over the handling of the war with Iran have occasionally spilled into public view.
“As part of the visit, the prime minister will meet with President Trump at the White House on Tuesday and attend the funeral service for Senator Lindsey Graham, a friend of Israel,” Netanyahu’s office said, adding that he would depart for Washington on Monday.
The two leaders were closely aligned when Trump returned to the White House, launching a joint war against Iran in late February that both sides initially hailed as a success.
Netanyahu has often described Trump as “the greatest friend” Israel ever had in the White House.
But their alliance has shown signs of strain in recent months, particularly over whether to keep up military pressure on Iran or seek a diplomatic solution.
“We get along very good. (Netanyahu) knows who the boss is,” Trump said earlier this month in a phone interview with Axios, referring to himself.
Relations between the two leaders reached a low point in April during negotiations on an initial US-Iran ceasefire — which has since collapsed — with Trump unleashing profanity-laced tirades against his Israeli ally.
– ‘Very difficult guy’ –
Trump had been seeking to wind down hostilities in Lebanon, where Israel’s continued military campaign against Hezbollah was proving an obstacle to the Iran talks.
But hours before the ceasefire deal was signed, Netanyahu launched fresh attacks, provoking broadsides from Trump in the press.
“Are you f-ing crazy? What are you f-ing doing? I helped you stay out of jail,” Trump said he told Netanyahu during a tense exchange, according to an interview with the New York Post.
Trump later described Netanyahu as a “very difficult guy” in another interview.
Netanyahu downplayed the exchanges as “tactical disagreements”, saying they both were aligned on the goals of disarming Hezbollah and preventing Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons.
“We can disagree in the morning, and by the afternoon, we have common action,” he added.
Netanyahu’s visit comes months before Israeli national elections in which he plans to seek another term.
Recent polls show Netanyahu trailing, with public anger still lingering over his government’s failure to prevent Hamas’s October 7, 2023 attacks on Israel, which sparked the Gaza war.
