Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu departed for Washington on Monday, where he said he would meet with US President Donald Trump for their first face-to-face talks since the start of the conflict with Iran.
It will be Netanyahu's eighth meeting with President Trump since returning to office, and his first since February, just before Israel and the United States launched a joint air campaign against Iran.
"In these complex times, you need to act with great determination and wisdom. We will discuss all issues on the agenda, especially Iran. Of course, our goal is to protect our security and also to expand the circle of peace around us," Netanyahu said in a video statement on his departure, launching Al Arabiya from Reuters (27/7).
Israel did not take part in the US bombing campaign over the past two weeks of this month that provoked Tehran to fire at US bases in retaliation.
President Trump halted the campaign over the weekend. Iran said it would suspend its own attacks during the US pause. Israel has warned Tehran that any attack would trigger a harsh response from Israel.
Netanyahu in recent weeks admitted that he and President Trump had some differences of opinion, because the interests of Israel and the US in the region seem to be different.
The contentious June phone call, in which the president called the prime minister "crazy," was first leaked to the media and then publicly confirmed by Trump himself, revealing the sometimes-simmering tensions between the two leaders.
As a signal to Trump on Sunday, Israel said it would allow a multinational security force to enter Gaza as proposed in Trump's peace plan for the region.
On July 21, Israel announced it had redeployed some of its forces in southern Lebanon, as part of a US-backed agreement reached with Lebanese authorities in recent weeks.
The meeting with President Trump which showed what has traditionally been a close relationship between the two leaders could help Netanyahu at home, where he faces an October 27 general election and is struggling in the polls.
This is also happening when support for Israel in the United States has declined.
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