Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu invited himself to the White House, but US President Donald Trump preempted the visit, scheduled for this week or next, by repeating his public insult, saying: “Netanyahu and I get on very well, but he knows who the leader is.”
Following his phone call with Netanyahu last night, Trump told Axios that a meeting between the two might take place this week after his return from the NATO summit in Ankara, and that Netanyahu had requested the meeting at the White House. If the meeting does occur, it will be their first since the dramatic encounter last February when Netanyahu presented Trump with a joint plan for war against Iran.
The aforementioned meeting in February was the seventh meeting between them in one year, and it lasted two and a half hours before the launch of the “Roar of the Lion” war on Iran, and in it they discussed Tehran’s nuclear project and the military option against it.
The Israeli newspaper Yediot Ahronot quoted an unnamed Israeli source as saying that the meeting is unlikely to take place in the coming days due to Trump's trip to Turkey to participate in the NATO summit on June 8. The source estimated the visit would occur next week, while other Israeli sources said that no arrangements have yet been made for the visit, suggesting it might not even take place the following week.
Netanyahu's office said in an official statement last night that he spoke with Trump on Friday to congratulate him on the 250th anniversary of American Independence Day. This morning, Sunday, the official Israeli radio station reported that Trump was once again indulging his habit of insulting heads of state, this time with Netanyahu, and previously with the Italian prime minister.
She continued: “Trump insults Netanyahu, but he respects the Turkish, Russian, and North Korean presidents, and the Emir of Qatar. He likes strongmen.” She also says that Trump’s advisors have become increasingly skeptical and disillusioned with Netanyahu in recent months, particularly since his aforementioned meeting with Trump. She quotes an American source as saying that many of Trump’s advisors believe Netanyahu has been wrong about almost everything.
Relations between Trump and Netanyahu have been strained in recent weeks due to disagreements over the memorandum of understanding signed between Washington and Tehran, as well as over the activities of the Israeli army in Lebanon.
The Israeli news site Ynet explains that relations between Trump and Netanyahu have been strained in recent weeks due to disagreements over the memorandum of understanding signed between Washington and Tehran, as well as over the Israeli army's activities in Lebanon. It notes that Trump has spoken out against Netanyahu, calling him crazy and ungrateful, and has publicly stated that he reprimanded him for his decision to attack Beirut's southern suburbs, nearly derailing the agreement with Iran.
Netanyahu's goals in the White House
It appears that Netanyahu is trying to kill several birds with one stone during this visit to Washington. He wants to ensure the removal of the nuclear threat in the agreement between Tehran and Washington, and to safeguard the agreement between Israel and Lebanon. Beyond Israel's interests, Netanyahu is seeking to improve his tarnished image and standing in the eyes of Israelis, hoping this will help him remain in power after the crucial general elections next October.
Ultimately, Netanyahu suffered a blow even before the visit took place. Trump's remarks about who the "leader" is sent a message to Israelis once again that Israel is a ward state under American protection, thus undermining the prestige of their prime minister. Netanyahu's task of mitigating the widespread criticism of him, his government, and Israel in American public opinion appears extremely difficult.
At this particular time, Trump is looking for calm, and the last thing he wants is the military escalation hoped for by Netanyahu, on the eve of the midterm elections in Congress.
Israel’s problem in the United States, both before and after the elections, seems to require a quick solution, due to the conviction among broad American circles and supporters of both the Democratic and Republican parties that Netanyahu has embroiled their country in an unjustified war.
In an article titled “Reinforcement Players Needed” in Yediot Aharonot, Yedidia Stern, director of the Jewish People Policy Institute, asserts that the American nation is celebrating America’s birthday, and this is a time to examine our bilateral relations with it. He adds: “Israel, American Jews, and the United States form a triangle that is unstable and teetering, and the task of the next government is to repair it.”
Israeli researcher Yael Sternhell preceded him in this, saying in a lengthy interview published by Haaretz newspaper last Friday that relations between Israel and the United States are currently at an unprecedented low point, suggesting that what is to come is even worse because of the war on Gaza, the war on Iran, and because of deep internal changes in the United States.
As Sternhill stated, America, on its 250th birthday, is once again mired in internal strife that threatens the very possibility of Americans sharing a single nation; they are pessimistic, despise one another, and disrespect their leaders. She continued, "It's easy to see the parallels with the years leading up to the outbreak of America's Civil War."
