Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is expected to meet with President Donald Trump Monday, just over two weeks after Washington levied strikes against Iran’s nuclear program in support of a previous military operation carried out by Jerusalem.
But even as the pair appear to be relishing the reported success of the missions — which the Pentagon last week said had set back Tehran’s nuclear program by up to two years — several security issues remain on the table.
Here’s what to expect from the talks Monday:
IRAN NUCLEAR PROGRAM SET BACK TWO YEARS AFTER US STRIKES: PENTAGON
“We’ve entered a new era of the U.S.-Israel strategic partnership as a result of this conflict,” John Hannah, Senior Fellow at the Jewish Institute for National Security of America (JINSA) specializing in defense and strategy, said during a press briefing in reference to the strikes against Iran ahead of the Monday meeting.
“For the first time in history, the United States and Israel have gone to war together jointly in offensive operations against the military capabilities of a primary common adversary,” he added. “That’s a very big deal.”
Experts agree that Trump and Netanyahu are expected to address the future of U.S.-Israeli relations, not only as it relates to deterring Iran’s nuclear program, but because the Jewish leader will look to cement this level of U.S. support.
“I think he’s going to try to make that case with President Trump about what a critical ally Israel could be for the rest of his term,” JINSA President and CEO, Michael Makovsky, told reporters.
But when asked by Fox News Digital if the security experts expected the president to provide Israel with additional military aid, like B-2 bombers as some reporting has recently suggested, they were both skeptical given the sophisticated nature of the arms.
While Netanyahu will look to cement U.S. support for Israel, Trump will also be looking to leverage the aid that Washington has already provided to secure political wins at home.
HAMAS ‘SERIOUS’ ABOUT REACHING CEASEFIRE AGREEMENT BUT INSISTS ON LONG-STANDING DEMANDS
Trump has repeatedly said he wants the war in the Gaza Strip to end and to see the return of all 50 hostages, including the two remaining Americans still held by the Hamas terrorist network, Omer Neutra and Itay Chen.
But his special envoy, Steve Witkoff, has been unable to secure a deal that both Hamas and Israel can agree to — the hiccup largely centering around the inability to find a solution that ends Israeli military operations as well as establishes a ‘day after’ plan for Gaza.
Witkoff was expected to visit Egypt for additional negotiations in the coming days, though no official travel plans have yet been announced.
Neither the White House nor the State Department confirmed with Fox News Digital whether a date would be set after Trump’s meeting with Netanyahu.
But Trump is expected to pressure his Israeli counterpart to finally end the more than 20-month-long war.
“Trump feels like, ‘I did you a solid, I participated, I bombed these sites with my B-2s — now you need to help me, and we need to finish this Gaza war already,’'” Makovsky told Fox News Digital. “I think there’s obviously leverage there.”
Makovsky said that despite the U.S.’s recent decision not to send some previously pledged aid to Ukraine, Trump is unlikely to back off aid to Israel.
“They’ve got to replenish a lot of interceptors on the air defense and a lot of munitions,” Makovsky pointed out. “I don’t see Trump holding back on that, but it does give him leverage.”
TRUMP PRESSURES ISRAEL TO END GAZA CONFLICT AS HE EYES ABRAHAM ACCORDS EXPANSION
The creation of the Abraham Accords during his first term became a cornerstone of his presidency and a win he would like to once again advance by normalizing diplomatic ties between Israel and other Arab nations.
Some of the U.S.’s chief allies in the Middle East, like Saudi Arabia, have made clear they are uninterested in establishing ties with Jerusalem — even though they share a common foe in Iran — until Israel stops its war in Gaza.
But it will likely take more than a ceasefire to expand diplomatic ties between Jerusalem and Riyadh, which has long been critical of what it views as oppressive actions taken by Israel against Palestinians.
The experts explained that Trump will have to walk a fine line in pressuring Netanyahu to find a solution that appeals to Arab nations, but that also appeases the Israeli president’s conservative base at home.
“It’s not just pressure on the prime minister, but the president also works with our Arab partners to make sure there’s some incentives and some rewards to the prime minister in terms of the larger region,” Hannah said. “If [Netanyahu] decides to take some bold risks in Gaza in bringing this war to a conclusion, getting back those hostages, with the full support of President Trump … then the prospect opens quite quickly, of renewed negotiations and a track for normalization with Saudi Arabia and other key states in the region.”
