Netanyahu Meets Trump as Iran War, Lebanon Disagreements Boil
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- Netanyahu is in Washington to attend the funeral of Senator Lindsey Graham, who died July 11, with a White House meeting scheduled for 11am before the 2pm (19:00 GMT) memorial service on Tuesday
- The war on Iran tops the agenda — this is Netanyahu's first in-person talks with Trump since the US and Israel launched strikes on Tehran on February 28, though Trump has reportedly been frustrated, calling Netanyahu "f crazy" last month over continued Israeli attacks on Lebanon undermining US diplomacy
- Trump told the Financial Times "I call the shots. I call all the shots. He doesn't call the shots" when asked about Netanyahu approving a peace deal with Iran, while regime change in Tehran remains a key sticking point — Netanyahu is expected to push for it, but Trump reportedly opposes it because the war is "hugely unpopular" domestically
- On Lebanon, Trump told Netanyahu in an early June call that "everybody hates you now... everybody hates Israel because of this," while Netanyahu told his security cabinet on Sunday that he would oppose any US pressure to withdraw from Lebanon, Syria, and Gaza
- The US-Turkiye F-35 sale is another friction point — Netanyahu opposes it because it would "upset the power balance in the Middle East," but Trump said last week "we will sell to whoever he wants"
- The visit comes amid intensifying West Bank settler violence after a weekend shootout in Tal killed 2 Israelis and 4 Palestinians, and roughly 600 retired Israeli security officials from the Commanders for Israel's Security lobby wrote to Trump urging him to be the one to avert regional "calamity"
- Israeli elections are scheduled for October 27 — political analysts say Netanyahu is seeking Trump's support for re-election, having visited the White House more times under Trump than under any other US president
Why it matters: With Israeli elections three months out and the US-Iran war deeply unpopular at home, Netanyahu needs continued US military backing while Trump needs a deal to end the conflict — two goals that put them on a collision course. The public chumminess masks a real fracture: Trump is demanding Netanyahu accept a Iran peace deal and Lebanon withdrawal, while Netanyahu is betting that escalating pressure pays off politically at home.
