The News
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu met US President Donald Trump Monday, with the war in Gaza, US tariffs, and Iran high on the agenda.
Netanyahu, who promised Trump to “eliminate” Israel’s trade deficit with the US, is the first foreign leader to travel to Washington in the wake of Trump’s tariff announcement last week: Trump imposed a shock 17% duty on Israel, a day after the Israeli government dropped all tariffs on US goods in an effort to avoid the hit.
Netanyahu was also reportedly anxious to discuss Trump’s efforts to negotiate a nuclear deal with Tehran; Trump later said direct talks with Iran could happen as soon as this week.
SIGNALS
Netanyahu’s trip offers early test of tariff negotiations
Foreign officials will be looking to Benjamin Netanyahu’s trip for signs as to whether there was room for such talks in the face of mixed messages from the administration, which has indicated tariffs are both non-negotiable and a strategic tool to force new trade deals. “This is not a negotiation. For the US, it is a national emergency triggered by trade deficits caused by a rigged system,” White House trade guru Peter Navarro wrote in the Financial Times, stressing that non-tariff measures imposed by other countries also hurt American interests. And many analysts have cautioned that Trump’s rationale for the tariffs — as well as his framework for entering into any negotiations to reduce them — remain largely unclear.
Israel escalates war in Gaza with Trump’s blessing
Israel has ramped up its air and ground attacks in Gaza in recent days, complicating efforts to reach a new ceasefire agreement. By restarting the conflict, Netanyahu aims to perform a “delicate balancing act,” one expert argued in Foreign Affairs, delaying a truce to keep his far-right allies on board while also avoiding a deeply unpopular full-scale military occupation. Donald Trump has seemingly cooled on his earlier statements about annexing the Gaza strip, but the renewal of the conflict means his administration will be ultimately drawn in further: “This is Trump’s war,” one expert told The New York Times.
Trump and Netanyahu may not see eye to eye on Iran
Israeli officials have been wary of Washington’s nuclear outreach to Iran, and Benjamin Netanyahu has repeatedly said he does not think the negotiations will lead anywhere. Privately, he is likely to urge Trump to pursue the “full dismantling” of Iran’s nuclear program, an Israeli official told Axios, adding that Netanyahu also wanted an agreement to strike Iran’s nuclear facilities if diplomacy fails. “Israel’s skepticism of negotiations could create friction, particularly if the administration pursues an agreement that does not meet Israeli security demands,” one analyst noted. By contrast, Washington’s Iran policy has been “marked by ambiguity,” with different cabinet members floating a range of proposals, the analyst added.