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Netanyahu heads to Trump
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Iran would top the agenda in his meeting with U.S. President Donald Trump, as he took off from an Israeli Air Force base for Washington, DC on Monday.
In a Hebrew-language video statement released after his departure was confirmed, Netanyahu said, "We will discuss all the issues on the agenda, first and foremost Iran," and added that the goal was to safeguard Israel’s security while expanding "the circle of peace around us."
The Times of Israel reported Netanyahu took off without publicizing his departure in advance and left from an Air Force base rather than Ben Gurion Airport, reportedly for security reasons.
The Times of Israel also said Netanyahu is set to meet Trump on Tuesday at 11 a.m, local time, after more than five months since their last meeting, and that his schedule includes attending a memorial service for the late pro-Israel Republican senator Lindsey Graham.
The Times of Israel further reported Netanyahu’s cabinet meeting on Sunday was moved from his office to an undisclosed underground location, and his office was not allowing Israel’s diplomatic media pool to travel with him on the taxpayer-funded Wing of Zion plane.
Talks, threats, and pauses
As U.S. airstrikes on Iran paused after nearly two weeks of intensifying bombing, President Donald Trump said diplomacy was pressing forward while also keeping military options open.
The Guardian reported that when asked on NBC’s Meet the Press whether Trump was ruling out additional strikes in Iran, Mike Waltz said, "I wouldn’t go that far at all. The president is keeping all options on the table."
The Guardian also quoted Trump telling reporters on Friday, "We’re talking to [the Iranians] right now," and said he added, "We’re locked and loaded and ready to go, but we’re talking to them."
In parallel, Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmail Baghaei told a press conference on Sunday that mediators were working to prevent tension from escalating, while the Iranian army spokesperson Mohammad Akraminia signalled defiance by saying the U.S. was "experiencing strategic decision-making fatigue."
The AP reported that the U.S. military paused its airstrikes on Iran while diplomatic efforts pushed forward to avert a return to all-out war, and it said the conflict could reach the five-month point Tuesday.
Regional stakes and next steps
The meeting’s Iran focus is occurring alongside ongoing regional disputes over the Strait of Hormuz and the question of whether the pause holds, with multiple outlets tying the next steps to negotiations and the reopening of shipping.
The AP said Israel, which launched the war alongside the U.S. on Feb. 28, has been notably absent from renewed American attacks over Iran’s effective closure of the Strait of Hormuz, described as a vital shipping corridor through which 20% of the world’s oil normally flows.
The Guardian reported that Washington blamed Iran for strikes on U.S. forces and allies in the region and its closure of the strait of Hormuz, and it said Iran demanded payment and control over which ships pass through the strait.
The Times of Israel reported that Netanyahu’s trip comes during a lull after 13 days of intensifying U.S. airstrikes on Iran and retaliatory attacks across the region by the Islamic Republic, and it said the Pentagon suspended the bombing campaign late on Friday with no U.S. attacks reported on either Saturday or Sunday.
The Times of Israel also said Netanyahu’s Tuesday agenda includes Gaza and Lebanon, with the security cabinet on Sunday voting to approve the limited entry of the International Stabilization Force into the Gaza Strip, while Israel’s plan for Lebanon faces Hezbollah’s refusal to disarm.
