When Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu arrives at the White House on February 15th, the visit will be unlike any other—and not only because of the turmoil roiling the Trump administration following the resignation of National Security Adviser Michael Flynn. After 11 years as prime minister, and countless meetings with American presidents and secretaries of state, Netanyahu will be greeted for the first time in the Oval Office by a Republican president. For a leader who has long endured ideological, stylistic, and personal gaps with two Democratic presidents, while being hailed as a soulmate by GOP Members of Congress and presidential candidates, he will hardly be able to believe his luck.

Indeed, relations with this particular Republican president could be especially warm. Netanyahu and President Donald Trump benefit from a valuable channel of communication between Israeli Ambassador Ron Dermer and Trump’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner, each of them perhaps the single person closest to their respective leader. It is widely expected that Trump and Netanyahu will find relatively easy agreement on a number of issues.

Both have advocated tougher responses, perhaps including new sanctions, to Iran’s ballistic missile program and other provocative regional activities, while maintaining, for now, the basic structure of the Iran nuclear deal. Trump has also shown interest in Netanyahu’s argument that the strategic alignment between Israel and the Sunni Arab states with regard to Iran and Sunni jihadist groups creates an opportunity to build a new regional security architecture, thaw Israeli-Arab ties, and use those bonds to overcome what Netanyahu sees as Palestinian weakness and recalcitrance that impede progress toward peace.

Read the full article in The Atlantic.