Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office announced Thursday that he was postponing his trip to the United States, officially citing the rescheduling of Sen. Lindsey Graham’s memorial service until later this month. But that was not the only reason behind the decision.
The White House had never publicly announced a date for a meeting between Netanyahu and U.S. President Donald Trump. Still, the Prime Minister’s Office and officials in Washington insist that a meeting had been arranged for Monday.
Netanyahu and Trump
(Photo: Jim WATSON / AFP)
Netanyahu had even reserved the Wing of Zion aircraft for three days, with plans to arrive Sunday and return to Israel on Tuesday after attending Graham’s memorial service. Behind the scenes, however, a series of disputes made the visit uncomfortable for both Jerusalem and Washington.
One source of tension was Vice President JD Vance’s pointed interview, in which he criticized Israel and accused it of running influence operations in the United States and trying to shape American foreign policy. The implication was clear: Israel was attempting to push Trump back into war.
That narrative was damaging for both governments. The last thing Netanyahu needed, only months before an election, was to arrive in Washington and face a public dressing-down at the White House.
Such an encounter could damage his campaign, making it preferable to wait for tensions to ease and prepare more carefully for the meeting. Trump was also angered by Netanyahu’s public opposition to supplying F-35 fighter jets to Turkey. American officials were not enthusiastic about holding the meeting under the current circumstances either, meaning a postponement suited both sides.
There were also disagreements over the meeting’s agenda and the possible outcomes, particularly regarding Iran and the U.S. demand that Israel begin withdrawing from Syria and Lebanon. Netanyahu has taken a firm position against withdrawing from the security zones.
U.S. officials also understand that Netanyahu is politically constrained before the election and cannot present concessions to his political base.
At the same time, there are internal disputes in Washington over the collapse of the memorandum of understanding with Iran and the direction the conflict should now take. Officials opposed to a return to war were not enthusiastic about Netanyahu arriving in Washington at this stage.
Vance criticizes Israel over the Iran war
(Video: Reuters)
The Prime Minister’s Office rejected those claims. Senior officials said it was “completely untrue” to connect the postponement to difficulties coordinating a meeting with Trump. They said Netanyahu’s primary reason for traveling to Washington had been to pay his final respects to Graham, a close friend of Israel, and that he had been asked to deliver a eulogy.
Once the memorial service was postponed, they argued, there was no reason to make a separate trip solely for a diplomatic meeting. The decision was therefore made to wait and combine the two events into a single visit.
The planned meeting between Netanyahu and Trump emerged from their most recent phone conversation two weeks ago. Trump told Netanyahu that he was always welcome and that their teams would arrange a date.
The visit was initially discussed for August, but after Graham’s death and the scheduling of the memorial service for Monday, the Prime Minister’s Office said a White House meeting was set for 11 a.m. that day.
“Once the memorial service was postponed, the meeting was also postponed,” a senior Israeli official said Thursday. “Netanyahu was supposed to speak at the service, which was delayed until the end of the month, and it was clear that he would not fly to Washington twice in the same month. That is why the trip was postponed.”