Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is set to meet with US President Donald Trump on Tuesday, as the American leader weighs whether to expand his bombing campaign against Iran or pursue a diplomatic resolution concerning the Strait of Hormuz and the Islamic Republic’s nuclear program.
Israel fears that Trump will negotiate a premature end to the war without eliminating Iran’s ability to develop nuclear weapons in the future. Trump has repeatedly insisted that Iran cannot possess nuclear weapons, but the war and the economic upheaval it has caused have contributed to his approval rating reaching record lows in his second term. The poor marks are ringing alarm bells for Republicans ahead of midterm elections that could return Democrats to power in at least one chamber of Congress.
Netanyahu and Trump are also at odds over other issues, including the recent US-Saudi nuclear deal, the pending sale of advanced F-35 fighter jets to Turkey, and the extent of Israel’s troop presence in Gaza, Lebanon and Syria.
Netanyahu traveled to the United States to attend the funeral of Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, who remained one of Israel’s most unwavering advocates even as its popularity declined. Graham was also one of Trump’s most important associates in pressing for the Iran war. Opposition leader and former prime minister Yair Lapid will also attend the service at Washington National Cathedral on Tuesday.
While in Washington, Netanyahu will seek to narrow the widening gaps between himself and Trump over Middle East strategy.
Iran tops the agenda
In a video statement released before his departure on Monday, Netanyahu said, “I am embarking on this mission with one clear goal – to ensure the security, strength and future of our dear State of Israel.”
“We will discuss all the issues on the agenda, first and foremost, Iran,” he said. “Naturally, our goal is to safeguard our security and also to expand the circle of peace around us.”
During the trip, Netanyahu said he would also pay his final respects to Graham, “one of the greatest friends the State of Israel has ever known.”
Israelis are acutely aware of the emerging differences between the allies. “It will not be an easy visit,” former IDF intelligence chief Amos Yadlin told Israel Radio on Monday morning. “There is no doubt that Netanyahu wants the United States to return to war.”
Trump spoke on Monday about the discord between himself and Netanyahu, even as he praised the prime minister. Speaking to reporters aboard Air Force One, Trump said Netanyahu had been “great” and that “we did very well together.”
Trump was asked aboard the plane about US plans to sell advanced F-35 fighter jets to Turkey, which Netanyahu has publicly opposed. “Turkey has been a great ally for me,” Trump told reporters, stressing, “No one tells me what we should be selling or not.” He acknowledged that Turkey “is not a big fan” of Israel and Netanyahu.
Israel has been more circumspect regarding the Saudi civilian nuclear power agreement recently completed by the Trump administration. However, it has deep concerns about an agreement that would allow plants capable of enriching uranium. US assistance in building those facilities had been one of the key incentives former president Joe Biden used in an effort to persuade Saudi Arabia to normalize ties with Israel and join the Abraham Accords between Israel and several Muslim-majority countries.
Trump has since said that US support for a Saudi civilian nuclear program would be contingent on normalization with Israel and that the facilities would not be permitted to enrich uranium. On Monday, however, he told reporters aboard Air Force One that he had not spoken with Saudi Arabia about the Abraham Accords. Tuesday’s meeting will be the first face-to-face encounter between Trump and Netanyahu since the agreement was announced.
The closer Netanyahu appears to Trump and the center of US decision-making, the better it is for him domestically ahead of Israel’s October 27 election. Trump has met with Netanyahu more than any other foreign leader during his second term. This will be their eighth such meeting and the fifth time Trump has hosted the Israeli leader at the White House.
Tight ties with Netanyahu also play well with Trump’s evangelical base ahead of the US midterms in November, but they risk further alienating the broader American public, which opposes the conflict.
Netanyahu’s influence in the United States has diminished, partly because of the war’s growing unpopularity and the role he played in encouraging it.
“This is not the same Netanyahu of 2025 or even of February 2026. He is greeted with suspicion,” Yadlin said of the reception he expected the prime minister to receive in the United States.
Last visit was followed by large-scale attacks
Netanyahu last visited Washington in February, when he successfully advocated for the joint Israeli-US bombing campaign against Iran that began on February 28.
Tehran retaliated by closing the Strait of Hormuz, the waterway through which 20% of the world’s oil supply is shipped. The move caused crude oil prices to climb during the first quarter of 2026, from $61 per barrel to $118 per barrel, according to the US Energy Information Administration.
Iran allowed the strait to reopen on a limited basis after an April ceasefire, which was followed by a memorandum of understanding with the US in June. The agreement collapsed in early July, and the parties resumed their attacks without Israeli military involvement. The United States bombed Iran for 13 consecutive nights, ending on Thursday, even as talks with the Islamic Republic continued.
The United States and Israel were initially aligned in February around their shared goal of destroying Iran’s nuclear and ballistic missile programs, while Netanyahu also focused on bringing about the collapse of the Islamic Republic.
Over the weekend, Trump stressed that the war remained focused on eliminating Iran’s nuclear program. Last week, he spoke specifically about striking the nuclear facility at Pickaxe Mountain.
In an interview with NBC News’ “Meet the Press” on Sunday, US Ambassador to the UN Mike Waltz said the United States was “keeping all options on the table,” but was allowing time for talks.
He dismissed media reports that shortages of military supplies were among Trump’s motivations for pausing the bombing campaign, saying the United States had everything it needed militarily.
Waltz warned Iran not to disregard American military threats. Early Monday morning, Trump published a short AI-generated video in which his likeness planted an American flag on an Iranian oil tanker, accompanied by the slogan “it’s our oil tanker now.”
Later on Monday, Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One that he was holding “good talks” with the Iranians, “so we will see what happens. I think there is a good chance something could happen. If it does, good. If it doesn’t, we go back to doing what we were doing two days ago.”
Yadlin told Israel Radio that, at the end of the day, “What interests President Trump is the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz.”
The war might have begun in February with a focus on the Iranian regime and its nuclear program, but it will end, Yadlin predicted, with the reopening of the strait and some form of diplomatic achievement concerning Iran’s nuclear weapons program.
Israel has watched the renewed US-Iran engagement warily from the sidelines.
Sima Shine, an Iran expert at the Tel Aviv-based International Institute of Strategic Studies, said that neither Washington nor Tehran had so far wanted Israel to become involved in the renewed fighting, fearing that such a move would “widen the scope of the war.”
Maintaining the conflict as a bilateral confrontation makes it easier to return to negotiations, she told the Jewish Telegraphic Agency.
The United States can better control the battlefield without Israel, which would have its own military agenda and objectives, Shine said. Israel could enter the war only if it were attacked by Iran or invited to participate by the United States, she added.
In an interview with Fox News on Sunday, Netanyahu warned of a forceful response should Iran attack Israel.
Iran must end its nuclear program, he stressed, saying that the military strikes had set the program back but had not eliminated it.
A nuclear-armed Iran poses a danger to Israel, the region, the United States and the world, he said, adding, “President Trump and I are both committed to prevent this danger.”
