Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and U.S. President Donald Trump focused primarily on Iran during their meeting at the White House on Tuesday, according to a senior Israeli political official, who described the discussion as “a real consultation and exchange of views.”
The official said Trump was considering three possible courses of action: reaching an agreement, maintaining the siege or renewing and intensifying military strikes.
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Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu meets with US President Donald Trump at the White House
(Photo: GPO)
“We discussed each of the options extensively and honestly, not in order to promote one alternative or another,” the official said. “There is a serious problem there involving the collection of fuel for civilians. There was an attempt to determine what would be preferable, and each side said what it believed would be best.”
“I say that with certainty,” he said.
According to the official, no request for Israeli withdrawals was raised during the meeting.
“No request for withdrawals came up,” he said. “It was raised by the prime minister, not by the Americans. He showed maps of the areas we hold. Turkey controls 5% of Syria, while we control one-thousandth.”
The official said Netanyahu sought to shape Trump’s understanding of Israel’s presence in the region by presenting the facts visually.
“Sometimes Trump has certain impressions, and if you do not find a way to change them, they become fixed,” he said. “First you show the facts, preferably visually, and then it has a cumulative effect.”
Netanyahu also told Trump that Israel would remain in Lebanon as long as a threat persisted, the official said.
The official stressed that Netanyahu did not tell Trump that Israel preferred another attack on Iran.
Regime supporters in Tehran holding a sign featuring Mojtaba Khamenei
(Photo: Majid Saeedi/Getty Images)
“The prime minister did not say that Israel’s preference is a strike,” he said. “His preference is the result. You have to begin with the desired result and work backward to determine the action.”
He said the final decision rested with Trump.
“In the end, it is his decision,” the official said. “During Operation Rising Lion, he also heard the prime minister’s request to strike the Fordow facility and did not give an answer. A few days later, he informed us that he would join.”
Israel was now waiting for Trump’s decision unless Iran attacked first, he added.
“We are waiting for his decision, unless the Iranians attack us,” the official said. “There are no free attacks. The Iranians have not attacked us so far, and not by chance. They understand that we will respond. They have a certain degree of deterrence.”
The official said there were disagreements inside Iran between those more concerned about the economy and those who were less concerned.
“This regime is much weaker,” he said. “It has a total of 1,500 to 1,600 missiles, compared with the thousands it once had.”
Asked whether that weakness could lead to the regime’s collapse, the official said it would not be enough on its own.
“Will that bring about its downfall? I do not think so,” he said. “Only in combination with other factors, which it would not be appropriate for me to detail.”
Pickaxe Mountain
(Photo: Vantor/Handout via REUTERS )
“There is no need to bring it personally to the president,” he said. “There are centrifuges there, but the prime minister does not currently see enrichment taking place. We have a good assessment of the nuclear material, including material enriched to below 60%.”
Tzipi Hotovely, head of Israel’s public diplomacy apparatus, said after the meeting that Pickaxe Mountain had not been discussed in the Oval Office.
Netanyahu described the meeting, his seventh with Trump in Washington since the president returned to office and one of their shortest, as his “best conversation” with the U.S. president.
“I have just concluded an excellent meeting with President Trump, and when I say excellent, I do not mean it as an empty phrase,” Netanyahu said in a video released shortly after the White House meeting.
He said the discussion reflected full coordination between Israel and the United States.
“It was a conversation marked by full partnership, mutual support and an understanding of the shared objective, to ensure that Iran does not obtain nuclear weapons, as well as other objectives,” Netanyahu said.
“This was one of the best conversations I have held with U.S. President Trump,” he added. “His entire senior team was there, as was our senior team, and it was an opportunity to exchange ideas and coordinate on matters that are important to the security and future of the State of Israel.”