For years, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s trips to meet US President Donald Trump in Washington followed a choreographed script: a red carpet, a warm handshake, and shared messages about the closeness of the Israel-US alliance.
But the relationship has markedly shifted since the two last met five months ago. The close cooperation and effusive praise from the start of the Iran war have given way to Trump’s expletive-laden outbursts directed at his most vocal international advocate.
This is Netanyahu’s seventh visit to the US since Trump returned to power — more than any other world leader. This time, though, he arrives in Washington as a leader facing reelection, trying to steady a relationship that has grown visibly strained.
Netanyahu has been working to secure an invitation to the White House for several weeks, according to a US official and an Israeli source, to discuss progress in the Iran war and warn Trump against diplomatic concessions.
Trump had been resistant to meeting, and some White House officials have been frustrated at what they regarded as Israeli attempts to secure a meeting through media leaks — to “will a meeting into existence,” the US official said. This week’s funeral of US Sen. Lindsey Graham provided an opportunity for a sit-down, even though it will be secondary to the larger event.
