Senior White House official: Talks for a Trump-Netanyahu meeting in Washington next week

The news in brief:

• The White House and the Prime Minister’s Office are discussing the possibility of a meeting between Trump and Netanyahu next week.
• As of today, no official date has been set for the meeting in the Oval Office.
• President Trump is considering renewing the broad military campaign against Iran.
• Benjamin Netanyahu will come to Washington for Lindsey Graham’s funeral.
• The meeting could influence Trump’s decision-making process.
• The Prime Minister’s Office and the Israeli Embassy in Washington refused to comment.

The White House and the Prime Minister’s Office are conducting discussions on the possibility of holding a meeting between President Trump and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in the Oval Office next week, but as of now (Wednesday) a meeting has not yet been scheduled, said a senior White House official and an Israeli source privy to the details.

• Trump is considering renewing the broad war against Iran, a move that will likely include a joint military campaign with Israel, similar to the start of Operation “Epic Fury” on February 28. The meeting with Netanyahu may be important both for Trump’s decision-making process and for coordination between the two countries.
• Netanyahu has visited the Oval Office six times since Trump returned to the White House a year and a half ago – more than any other leader in the world. However, these days Netanyahu is not popular in Washington, both among the Democrats and among Trump’s associates and among the support base of the MAGA movement.

• Last week, Netanyahu asked to meet with Trump, but was not given a date for the meeting. He then said he decided to postpone his trip to Washington because the funeral service for the late Senator Lindsey Graham was postponed.
• Netanyahu now plans to come to Washington to attend Graham’s funeral services on Capitol Hill and the National Cathedral on Tuesday.
• The Prime Minister’s Office and the Israeli Embassy in Washington refused to comment.

• Trump is approaching a crossroads in the war with Iran, when American and Israeli officials see only two realistic options for ending the fighting:

1. to accept the new ceasefire proposal submitted by the Qatari mediators, which is intended to lead to the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz.
2. to embark on a joint and large-scale military campaign with Israel, in order to force Tehran to surrender.

• Senior Israeli officials say that the IDF is preparing for the possibility of expanding the fighting into a full and coordinated campaign within days. However, they emphasized that Israel will only join the fighting if it is attacked by Iran or if the United States asks it to participate.