Netanyahu’s visit with Trump resulted in unpleasant surprises – analysis

Israel’s prime minister was surprised by Trump’s praise of Turkey’s antisemitic president Erdogan.

By David Brummer, World Israel News

Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu landed back in Israel from Washington, D.C. on Wednesday, proceeding shortly thereafter to testify at his corruption trial.

Following a last-minute decision to meet with U.S. President Donald Trump in the White House—Netanyahu’s second visit to the White House since the inauguration in late January—there is time to reflect on what, if anything, Israel’s longest-serving prime minister achieved.

According to a prepared statement released by the Prime Minister’s Office, Netanyahu and Trump discussed four main issues: Iran, Gaza and the hostages, Turkey, and tariffs.

Netanyahu seemed to be caught off-guard when Trump announced the resumption of talks with Tehran over its nuclear program, as early as Saturday—which Iran disingenously claims is merely civilian but which much of the rest of the world assesses is for the development of catastrophic weaponry.

Israel was vehemently opposed to Obama’s deal with Iran, which Trump himself terminated in 2018.

Netanyahu would presumably be unsupportive of U.S. attempts to negotiate another deal with Iran.

Despite the resumption of talks, there is no daylight between the two leaders on the end goal, namely to prevent the mullahs in Tehran from ever acquiring nuclear weapons.

They also seem to agree that Iranian attempts to play for time are similarly unacceptable.

“I think if the talks aren’t successful with Iran, I think Iran is going to be in great danger, and I hate to say, great danger, because they can’t have a nuclear weapon,” Trump stated in the Oval Office.

“You know, it’s not a complicated formula. Iran cannot have a nuclear weapon … and if the talks are not successful, I actually think it would be a very bad day for Iran if that’s the case,” Trump added.

Netanyahu is aware it could also be a very bad day for Israel and much of the rest of the Middle East.

If U.S. bombers, in tandem with Israel Air Force airplanes, target (and presumably destroy) Iranian nuclear sites, the Islamic regime has warned it will attack Israel, Iraq, United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Qatar or Saudi Arabia, as well as U.S. service personnel in the region if the order to strike is given.

There was also little daylight between the two leaders on the general issue of Gaza and the more particular one concerning the 59 hostages—both alive and dead—who remain captive in Hamas tunnels.

Since resuming office—and even when he was just a candidate—Trump has prioritized the hostages’ return. Netanyahu’s Israeli detractors would suggest it appears the U.S. president is more animated about their return than he is.

However, Trump emphasized that from the American side, both he and his envoy Steve Witkoff are working assiduously to secure the hostages’ release, adding that Netanyahu was doing likewise.

Trump also played up his relationship with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, saying that if Turkey and Israel had a problem over Ankara’s involvement in Syria, he would step in as a mediator to help sort it out.

Netanyahu glanced at his team when Trump praised Erdogan, relaying that he had told the Turkish leader, “Congratulations. You’ve done what no one has been able to do in 2,000 years. You’ve taken over Syria.”

With Netanyahu looking visibly uncomfortable, Trump concluded his remarks by saying, “Any resolution would require all parties to be ‘reasonable’ for progress to be made.”

The final issue of tariffs has also drawn strong criticism of Israel’s prime minister.

Before the deadline on the so-called “Liberation Day” on April 2, Israel’s government announced it would preemptively remove tariffs on U.S. goods sold in the country.

When Trump outlined which countries would pay what tariffs, Israel was still set to be hit with a 17% rate on its exports to the U.S.

Netanyahu assured Trump that Israel would remove all trade barriers as quickly as practicable, a move that drew a gracious response from the president, who said he “appreciated very much” what Netanyahu said about the tariffs.

While some have seen Trump’s refusal to publicly announce the removal of the 17% tariff as a slap in the face to Netanyahu, others suggest that Israel was ahead of the curve in falling into line with Trump’s economic policy, bolstered by the fact that several other countries are now doing likewise.

It could be that, despite the seeming imbalance in the optics, Netanyahu’s visit—as least as far as tariffs are concerned—might pay long-term dividends.