Trump had said on Thursday that he was expecting a visit to his ally “in the not too distant future”. On Saturday, a US government agent announced that the meeting would take place in the White House on Monday.
Among other things, the new tariffs of 17 percent imposed by the US President between Trump and Netanyahu ensure imports from Israel. Last Wednesday, Trump had imposed tariffs on imports from almost all countries in the world and did not stop at the close partner Israel.
Shortly before the new US tariff was announced, Israel had deleted the last remaining Israeli imports on US goods. 99 percent of imports from the United States were previously customary. But nothing helped: In addition to a number of other trading partners, Trump also occupied Israel with new tariffs.
If Trump and Netanyahu talk about the tariffs as expected on Monday, Netanyahu would be the first foreign head of government since the tariff was imposed, who tries to press out better commercial conditions in Washington.
Another important topic of the meeting should be the negotiations on a new ceasefire in the Gaza Strip and the release of the hostages remaining in the violence of the radical Islamic Hamas. In mid-March, Israel resumed its massive air raids on Hamas targets in the Gaza Strip, where a ceasefire agreed between the two sides has been in place since January 19. The Israeli army also started a new ground in the Palestinian area.
Trump and Netanyahu are also likely to exchange ideas about the common opponent Iran. The US President wants to negotiate a new agreement on the Iranian nuclear program. At the beginning of March he proposed Tehran negotiations in a letter. At the same time, the US President threatened to intervene militarily. Iran should not have nuclear weapons. Tehran claims to be available for indirect negotiations with Washington.
At the end of March, Trump threatened Iran with “bombing” if there is no agreement. It is speculated that in such a case, Israel could fly attacks on Iranian facilities with US support.
According to his office, Netanyahu also wants to talk about the “fight against the International Criminal Court” at the meeting with Trump. The ICC had issued an arrest warrant against Netanyahu in November for war crimes in the Gaza Strip. In February, the United States imposed sanctions against the chief bank led by the Criminal Court, Karim Khan. Trump accused the court based in the Hague of “abusing his power” when he acted against Netanyahu.
