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By Erin Cunningham and Michelle L PriceWashington — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and President Donald Trump met at the White House on Tuesday for the first time since they launched a joint war against Iran, offering a chance for Netanyahu to ease strains in their relationship.The private meeting lasted almost 90 minutes and was “positive and productive”, according to White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt. The White House did not immediately offer more details.Despite signs of tension between the two before the meeting, Netanyahu was effusive afterwards and described it as “excellent” in a post on his Instagram profile.“When I say excellent, I don’t mean it in a superficial way,” Netanyahu wrote in Hebrew. “A conversation with full partnership, with mutual support, with an understanding of the common goal of ensuring that Iran does not have nuclear weapons, and other goals as well. One of the best conversations I’ve had with the President of the US, our friend Donald Trump.”It comes as both leaders face growing pressures at home. Netanyahu is up for re-election and is embattled in part because of his deteriorating relationship with Trump. Trump is under pressure to end an unpopular war that has wreaked economic havoc and driven prices higher ahead of midterm elections in November.Read: DOUGLAS MASON | Trump’s Iran war fiasco demonstrates the law of unintended consequencesTrump revealed some tension with Netanyahu ahead of their meeting, complaining about reports that the Israeli leader plans to discuss intelligence on Iranian activities at Pickaxe Mountain, a potential nuclear site the US president has threatened repeatedly to bomb.“I know exactly what’s going on at Pickaxe,” Trump told the TV programme Fox & Friends. He insisted that whatever Iran is doing is “not a big problem” and that “Bibi’s telling me that because he wants me to stay involved”.“Why do you have to announce to the world?” Trump added, flashing his frustrations with his ally.Read: RICHARD CALLAND | Can America’s constitution survive Donald Trump?Near the White House where the public was able to gather near fencing, a small group of protesters chanted, “Netanyahu, you’re a tyrant” and “Bibi, you’re not welcome here,” referencing the prime minister’s nickname.The two leaders also planned to discuss the framework agreement the US and Israel signed with Lebanon over the Israel-Hezbollah war and the expansion of the Abraham Accords, according to a White House official, who spoke on condition of anonymity to preview the meeting.“We have a little difference,” Trump said Monday when asked by reporters if he and Netanyahu were on the same page on Iran. “But pretty close, yeah.”Hot and coldTrump has had a hot-and-cold history with Netanyahu over the years, but upon his return to the White House last year, their alliance seemed stronger than ever. When they started the war together in February, it was with a united front, touting their respective militaries as acting in lockstep to take out Iran’s leadership and pave the way for a government more friendly to the West.But as Iran fought back — sending drones and missiles slamming into US bases and high-rises in cities in the Gulf, and choking off the Strait of Hormuz — Trump came under immense pressure at home and by allies in the region to end the conflict.Since then, Netanyahu, who wanted to continue the fighting in Iran and against its ally, Hezbollah, in Lebanon, has been sidelined as Trump sought a deal with Tehran. Netanyahu’s visit to the White House this week comes as the disagreements with Trump and Vice-President JD Vance have burst into the open over the war in Iran and more.“The Americans are making it clear to the Israelis they are the ones who are running the war,” Israeli journalist and political analyst Amit Segal wrote in the daily newspaper, Israel Hayom, on Monday. “It is clear to everyone that Israel has been put in the back seat.”Keeping focus on nuclear IranWith US-Iran tensions flaring again in recent weeks, Netanyahu planned to share Israeli intelligence on Tehran’s nuclear programme with Trump, according to a person familiar with Netanyahu’s visit. They spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorised to speak to the media.Israel’s UN ambassador Danny Danon told reporters in New York on Tuesday that Netanyahu wants to hear what Trump would like to see over the coming days and weeks.“I cannot tell you which direction it will go. There are different options,” he said. “We are prepared for all scenarios, and we will discuss it with the president.”Netanyahu said Sunday that he hoped to sit down with Trump “to hear what he has in mind” for Iran.“Because I think, in many ways, it’s his decision” on how to move forward, Netanyahu told Maria Bartiromo Fox News.“If he can do so without returning to intense military fighting, that’s fine. Why not? “But one way or the other, they have to end their nuclear programme,” he said of Iran.Other forces in Gaza and LebanonBut even as Netanyahu sees an opportunity, he also needs to persuade Trump that he won’t play spoiler to US diplomatic and reconstruction efforts in Gaza and in Lebanon, where the president has previously said that “too many people are being killed” by Israeli strikes.Israel has taken recent steps in both places.In Lebanon, where the Israeli military occupies much of the south, Israel agreed to allow the Lebanese army to deploy to some villages as part of a “pilot programme” testing their ability to secure areas where Hezbollah once operated.On Monday The US state department the next round of talks between Israel and Lebanon will take place next week in Rome with a focus on expanding the programme.On Gaza, Israel’s security cabinet approved a measure on Sunday that would, in theory, grant entry to the first members of an international stabilisation force outlined last year in a US-backed ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas.Few countries have pledged troops for the force, however, and Israel would approve their entry into Gaza on a case-by-case basis.The troops — including from Morocco and Uganda — would be allowed to operate only in a small, desolate area in Rafah in the south, where the plan is to vet and house some displaced Palestinians.The Israeli military continues to carry out strikes it says target militants but that have also killed civilians.Eroding support for IsraelIsrael has lost a much bipartisan support in the US, particularly over its conduct in Gaza.In June, Vance warned Israeli officials that Trump was their only friend among world leaders. Vance is expected to attend the meeting with Netanyahu, according to a person familiar with the plan who was not authorised to speak publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity.An AP-NORC poll published earlier this month found a dramatic erosion of support among American adults for Israel.“We’ve lost America. Thank you, Bibi,” wrote Ben Caspit, a political commentator for Israel’s Maariv newspaper.
