The declarations of U.S. President Donald Trump and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu after their meeting on Monday at the White House revealed that the true reason behind Netanyahu's hurried arrival in D.C. was the beginning of negotiations with Iran and not the tariffs imposed on Israel, as some had believed.
Trump wanted to brief Netanyahu privately about high-level negotiations with the Iranians, so that there would be no surprises but also to ensure that Israel does not interfere or disrupt the efforts, perhaps even by launching an attack on Iran.
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Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu during his meeting with U.S. President Trump
(Photo: Reuters)
Trump announced talks with Iran
(Reuters)
On tariffs, Netanyahu met with an even more humiliating response. After rushing to the States directly from his visit to Hungary, Netanyahu returns home empty handed, with tariffs remaining in place.
Direct American-Iranian talks, are likely not what Netanyahu was hoping to hear. The Iranians said they refuse to speak directly to the Americans and do not trust Trump but it seams that the president's threats convinced them to come to the table.
The prime minister was more pleased when Trump said that if the talks fail, it would be a "very bad day" for Iran. Trump, unlike his predecessor introduced the threat of military action. Netanyahu listened and nodded in agreement.
But Netanyahu was coming home empty handed. Not only were tariffs to remain, for now, Trump even mentioned the 4 billion dollars in military aid Israel receives from the United States. On the other hand, he did compliment the prime minister for the steps taken to remove tariffs from U.S. goods imported to Israel and said other countries should learn how to be fare to America. All Netanyahu was sent off with was a promise that discussions over tariffs, would continue.
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Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and U.S. President Donald Trump at the White House on Monday
(Photo: GPO)
The meeting also failed to advance the release of hostages held in Gaza. Other than mentioning the terrible cruelty in the treatment of hostages held by Hamas, the president said nothing concrete about a possible deal that would bring about their release.
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Trump once again raised the possibility of removing some of the population from Gaza. Netanyahu convinced the president that there were countries willing to take in Palestinians who would leave the Strip. Trump also incredibly said he could not understand why Israel chose to leave the "incredible piece of real estate," adding that perhaps it was due to a promise of peace, but we all saw how that worked out, the president said.
Finally, on Turkey and its growing influence in Syria Trump said he liked Turkish president Erdogan and offered to help if Israel had a problem with him. This was important news indicating that the U.S. would work to prevent confrontation between the two nations.