Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu described his seventh Washington meeting with U.S. President Donald Trump since the president returned to office, and one of their shortest, as “the best conversation I’ve had” with him.
“I have just finished an excellent meeting with President Trump, and when I say excellent, I do not mean that as empty rhetoric,” Netanyahu said in a video released shortly after the White House meeting and just before he attended the funeral of Sen. Lindsey Graham.
Netanyahu said the discussion reflected “full partnership, mutual support and an understanding of the shared goal of ensuring that Iran does not obtain a nuclear weapon, as well as other goals.”
“It was one of the best conversations I have had with U.S. President Trump,” he said. “His entire senior team was there, as was our senior team, and it was an opportunity to exchange ideas and coordinate matters that are important to the security and future of the State of Israel.”
The meeting lasted about one hour and 20 minutes. It was closed to reporters and included no public statements. During the meeting, which took place against a backdrop of pronounced distrust toward Netanyahu in Washington, the prime minister said Graham had been Israel’s No. 1 friend. Trump replied: “I’m Israel’s No. 1 friend. Lindsey was No. 2.”
(Photo: CHIP SOMODEVILLA / GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA / AFP, AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt described the meeting as “positive and productive.”
A senior official familiar with the talks said the chemistry between the two leaders was evident and that Trump and Netanyahu reiterated their shared goal of preventing Iran from acquiring a nuclear weapon.
Tzipi Hotovely, head of Israel’s National Public Diplomacy Directorate, also described the Oval Office meeting as “excellent.” “The discussion focused on Iran, with the expansion of the Abraham Accords raised at the margins,” she said. “There is complete understanding between the Israelis and Americans that Iran must not have a nuclear weapon. Israel is not pushing the United States toward military action.”
Hotovely said the meeting also included a broader regional assessment. “There was no American demand for a withdrawal, not from Lebanon, not from Syria and not from Gaza,” she said. “The military achievements are being preserved.”
Pickaxe Mountain not discussed
Hotovely said the possibility of striking Pickaxe Mountain was not raised during the meeting.
Before the talks, it had been reported that Netanyahu would present Trump with intelligence concerning the secret Iranian site, where Israeli intelligence believes Iran has transferred centrifuges.
In an interview with Fox News shortly before the meeting, Trump described Pickaxe Mountain as “not a big problem.”
“I don’t need Bibi to tell me that. Bibi’s telling me that because he wants me to stay involved,” Trump said. “We have the best cameras in the world. We know exactly what’s going on there. I heard Bibi said that, and I said, why don’t you tell me? Why do you have to announce it to the world? I know exactly what’s going on there.”
Hotovely said Turkey was not discussed, nor was the possible supply of F-35 stealth fighter jets to Ankara, which Netanyahu has urged Washington not to approve. The issue of Palestinian statehood was also not raised, she said. “There was no tension at all, exactly the opposite,” Hotovely said. “It was a positive meeting in a very warm atmosphere.”
“The substance of the meeting was coordination. Because the level of coordination is so high, there is no need to ask us to do certain things or not to do them.”
Israeli Ambassador to the United States Yechiel Leiter also praised the talks. “A wonderful meeting at the White House with President Trump and Prime Minister Netanyahu,” he said. “Israel and the United States are united at the highest levels, an exemplary partnership that continues to benefit both our countries and the entire world.”