Analysis
BICOM Briefing | The Netanyahu-Trump meeting
Category: Regional Issues
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This Wednesday, 15 February, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will meet US President Donald Trump, the fifth world leader to visit Trump since his inauguration.
BICOM’s research team has prepared a briefing ahead of Netanyahu’s visit, outlining the context for the meeting, items on the agenda, and differences between the US and Israeli viewpoints on key issues.
The context of the meeting
- For Trump, the meeting is an opportunity to further distinguish himself from the Obama administration, by displaying near-unquestionable public support for Israel, in contrast to the often-fractious Netanyahu-Obama relations over the Palestinian issue and the Iran nuclear programme.
- Netanyahu – a veteran Middle East operator – will no doubt hope to shape the President’s and his administration’s Middle East thinking and develop the basis for a close long-term relationship.
- He will be just as keen to reaffirm his leadership credentials at home, arriving in Washington under intense pressure from the hard right wing of his coalition on the Palestinian issue, and police investigations into breach of trust and bribery allegations.
- The meeting’s agenda will include the Iranian nuclear deal; Syria and the threat from ISIS; as well as the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and the settlement issue, which may also open up the question of Trump’s election promise to move the US embassy to Jerusalem.
The full briefing is available as a PDF below.