The official told Reuters that “stability in the West Bank maintains Israel’s security and is in line with the administration’s goal of achieving peace in the region.”
In a related context, an Israeli newspaper reported that the White House requested that the meeting between Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and President Trump be held behind closed doors, without media presence, to avoid revealing differences of opinion between the two sides, particularly regarding the Iranian issue.
According to the newspaper “Yedioth Ahronoth”, Netanyahu is scheduled to travel to Washington on Tuesday afternoon, arriving after midnight Israel time, with the meeting to be held on Wednesday at the White House, in the form of a closed working meeting.
The newspaper added that Netanyahu will be accompanied by a small security delegation including his military secretary, Major General Roman Gofman, and the acting head of the National Security Council, Gil Reich, without his wife, Sara Netanyahu.
She explained that the decision to hold the closed meeting was made by the White House, unlike most previous meetings between the two leaders, which were attended by a large media presence and sometimes even included official events, as happened in their previous meeting at the Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida in late December 2015.
Yedioth Ahronoth suggested that the purpose of the closed meeting was to avoid showing differences in positions between Trump and Netanyahu, especially regarding the ongoing negotiations with Iran, in light of Arab pressure and the active involvement of American envoys Steve Wittkov and Jared Kushner.
The newspaper quoted unnamed senior Israeli officials as saying that Tel Aviv fears that Washington will reach a “fragile agreement” with Tehran that is limited to the nuclear file, without effective oversight from the International Atomic Energy Agency, which could restrict Israel’s ability to take military action against Iran.
An Israeli official added, according to the newspaper, that there are concerns about an agreement that “does not serve Israel’s interests,” noting that Netanyahu will not be able to criticize Trump publicly, due to his standing with the Israeli public.
According to Yedioth Ahronoth, Netanyahu intends to discuss what he calls Israel’s “red lines” regarding any agreement with Iran, which include withdrawing Tehran’s right to enrichment, permanently halting uranium enrichment, removing enriched uranium from Iranian territory, restoring effective control over the nuclear program, in addition to discussing the ballistic missile issue.
This comes after the Omani capital, Muscat, hosted indirect negotiations between the United States and Iran on Friday, amid escalating tensions and a US military buildup in the region.
Trump described the negotiations as “very good,” announcing a new round expected “early” next week, without specifying a date.
In contrast, Iran insists on lifting the economic sanctions imposed on it in exchange for restricting its nuclear program, and refuses to discuss any other issues, including its missile program or its support for armed groups in the region, warning of a response to any potential military attack.
