Netanyahu visits Trump for the second time within a few months

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is expected to visit Washington on Monday. Netanyahu will be welcomed in the White House, a US government agent announced on Saturday. US President Donald Trump said on Thursday that he was expecting a visit to his ally “in the not too distant future”.

Possible topics at the meeting in the White House are the negotiations on a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip, the Iranian nuclear program and the new tariffs imposed by Trump on 17 percent on 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 should also 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.

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.