The leaders are also expected to discuss implementation of the US-brokered Israel-Lebanon framework agreement signed last month.
Protesters trample photos of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and US President Donald Trump, along with Israeli and US flags, during a rally in Caracas marking one month since Venezuela’s devastating 24 June earthquakes.
Maxwell BRICENO/AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE
JERUSALEM (AFP) — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is set to meet President Donald Trump at the White House on Tuesday for their first face-to-face talks since the Iran war began, with the conflict expected to dominate discussions.
The meeting comes as Washington pushes to revive negotiations with Tehran following renewed fighting earlier this month after an April ceasefire collapsed. Israel has not joined the latest US-Iran hostilities.
“This is a great privilege, but it is also a great responsibility,” Netanyahu said before leaving Israel.
“We will discuss all the issues on the agenda, first and foremost Iran. Naturally, our goal is to safeguard our security and also to expand the circle of peace around us,” he added.
The meeting will be the eighth between the two leaders since Trump’s return to office and follows months of public disagreements over the handling of the conflict. Trump previously described Netanyahu as a “very difficult guy,” while the Israeli leader dismissed the tensions as “tactical disagreements.”
The leaders are also expected to discuss implementation of the US-brokered Israel-Lebanon framework agreement signed last month, as well as stalled efforts to rebuild Gaza, where the humanitarian crisis remains severe nearly three years into the war with Hamas.
Yonatan Freeman, an international relations expert at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, said the meeting is intended to demonstrate unity between Washington and Jerusalem.
“I think that the main issue... is to show the world, to show Iran, and also even Lebanon and others as well specifically, that there is no break or any kind of major disagreement between the United States and Israel,” he said.
Freeman added: “There’s more in agreement between the two leaders than disagreement.”
Netanyahu’s visit comes months before Israel’s national elections, where polls show him trailing amid lingering public anger over his government’s handling of Hamas’ 7 October 2023, attack that triggered the Gaza war.
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