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Netanyahu heads to Trump
Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is due to meet US President Donald Trump at the White House next Tuesday, the PM’s office said, with the visit coinciding with Netanyahu’s attendance at the funeral of Senator Lindsey Graham.
Al Jazeera said the meeting comes as the US-Israeli war with Iran has again escalated following a breakdown earlier this month of a ceasefire reached as part of a Memorandum of Understanding signed by the US and Iran.
Al Jazeera also reported that US Central Command said its forces completed their 13th consecutive night of strikes on Iran, while Iran retaliated daily against US assets in the region, killing three US soldiers in a strike on a base in Jordan last week.
The Hill reported that Netanyahu’s planned return to the U.S. will mark the first face-to-face talks between Trump and Netanyahu since the conflict began in late February, and it said the U.S. and Iran launched fresh tit-for-tat strikes earlier this month after a fragile ceasefire crumbled over a power struggle in the Strait of Hormuz.
Threats, hostilities, and quotes
Trump rejected the prospect of Netanyahu’s arrest while in the US, posting on Truth Social: "Benjamin Netanyahu will not be arrested, in any way, shape, or form, while in the United States of America," as New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani called on federal officials to arrest Netanyahu.
Al Jazeera said Mamdani had previously threatened to use the New York Police Department to arrest Netanyahu, while also noting that Mamdani acknowledged earlier this week he did not have the “authority to do so”.
The Hill said Graham died earlier this month at age 71 as a result of an aortic dissection, and it reported that Netanyahu commended him after Graham’s death for doing what "he thought was good for America."
Fox News reported Netanyahu described Graham as a "dear friend" and said Netanyahu told reporters that "Lindsey is a great friend of Israel and a cherished friend of mine."
What’s at stake next
Al Jazeera said the visit comes as Israel’s genocidal war in Gaza goes on, with the Israeli military continuing to issue displacement orders and launching near daily attacks despite the US-backed “ceasefire” that began last October.
“Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is due to meet US President Donald Trump at the White House next Tuesday, the PM’s office said”
Al Jazeera reported that an analysis from UN agencies found that an estimated 1.4 million people, representing 67 percent of Gaza’s population, are still suffering “crisis or worse levels of acute food insecurity,” and it said at least 73,311 Palestinians have been killed in the war, according to local health authorities.
The Hill said overnight U.S. Central Command concluded its 13th consecutive day of strikes on military targets it claimed were used to stifle commercial shipping through the strait, and it reported that Trump was weighing additional military action as a Republican defense hawk on Capitol Hill pushed the Pentagon to expand its strategy against Tehran.
Al Jazeera added that Netanyahu’s U.S. trip is expected to include travel to New York City for the United Nations General Assembly in September, while it said the US is not a signatory of the ICC’s founding document, the Rome Statute, and is therefore not subject to the court’s jurisdiction.
