CNN
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If Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was looking for a simple political victory that once erupted from US President Donald Trump, he left the oval office empty-handed.
The meeting was about two leaders negotiating a new 17% tariff imposed by the White House on Israel’s exports last week. In a gamble to avoid them, Israel had dropped its own tariffs on American products a day ago, despite being only imposed on very few items.
Netanyahu, sitting next to Trump in the White House, said Israel would “very quickly” eliminate trade barriers and trade deficits. Due to his usual enthusiastic admiration for Trump, the longtime Israeli leader said, “We intend to eliminate tariffs and quickly eliminate them.”
There was no difference in Trump. He pointed out that Israel wins $4 billion a year from the United States. “Congratulations, by the way. That’s pretty good,” he said, but he didn’t commit to changing his plans.
“Maybe it’s not,” he said when asked if he would reduce the tariffs.
For many years, Netanyahu was used to political gifts from Trump, especially during the first Trump administration. The US embassy was moved to Jerusalem, recognised the occupied Golan Heights as part of Israel, normalising relations with the Arab Gulf states, and many more Netanyahu were keen to celebrate these decisions and the president who made them.
Netanyahu quickly pointed out that he was not only the first foreign leader to visit Trump in his second term, but also the first person to meet him who negotiated tariffs. However, the meeting had no clear deliverables for Netanyahu or any promises that we could gain him credit.
The biggest blow of all was Iran, one of Netanyahu’s favorite topics. A few days before the highly anticipated meeting, Israeli media was full of speculation that the two leaders would discuss a military strike over Iran. The top Sunday headline of Yedios Afronos, Israel’s most well-known newspaper, shouted “Iran’s first,” saying the Islamic Republic should suffer “heavy blows” before negotiating. With the presence of at least six US B-2 stealth bombers and a second airline in the Indian Ocean, Israeli speculation has fueled speculation that strikes are not only possible, but more likely.
Ultimately, the biggest headline was about Iran, but it was almost certainly not what Netanyahu expected.
Trump has announced that the US and Iran are about to begin talks on a possible new nuclear deal. Netanyahu knew Trump was pursuing talks with Iran, but the sudden revelation of the imminent talks scheduled to begin on Saturday seemed to surprise the prime minister. The smile quickly faded from his face as he turned to his team of advisors.
The announcement “certainly not” about Israeli preferences, two sources told CNN. It is unclear whether Netanyahu was given advance notice of US-Iran consultations or had been consulted in advance, sources added.
Before returning to Israel, Netanyahu set his position.
“I agree that Iran does not have nuclear weapons. This can be done by agreement, but only if this agreement is Libyan style,” he said. However, if Iran dragged out consultations, Netanyahu said he had “at long” discussions with Trump about military options.
In Israel, damage has already been done.
“If (Trump) begins negotiations without our knowledge, it means he represents only American interests,” said Ronnie Sheikh, a researcher at the Truman Institute at Hebrew University. If Israel had known in advance, Netanyahu could have contributed to “some ideas, some new facts, some new intelligence,” Sheikh said. “But here there’s nothing, nothing at all.”
Fearless praise for Turkish President Recept Tayyip Erdogan – one of Israel’s most vocal critics since the start of the war in Gaza was another surprising line at a press conference filled with them.
Last year, Erdogan called on God to “punish” Netanyahu and said at the election rally he would “send someone called Netanyahu to Allah.” For months, Erdogan has maintained a steady stream of anti-Israel, particularly anti-Netanyahu-rhetoric.
Sitting right next to Netanyahu, Trump praised Erdogan. “I have a big relationship with a guy named Erdogan,” Trump said. “He’s a tough guy. He’s very smart,” Trump said he thought he could resolve the differences between Türkiye and Israel.
“I think it’s particularly embarrassing for Netanyahu because last week Erdogan said he thought Israel should be destroyed or eliminated.” “It was a very small part (of the press conference), but it made a lot of sense.”
In a speech marking the Muslim holiday of Eid Al Fitr on March 31, Erdogan called on God to “deprecate Israel miserably.”
Trump gave Netanyahu political cover to his hometown. The two leaders said they are working on another transaction to bring Israeli hostages back from Gaza. Trump said Netanyahu was constantly working on it despite continuing criticism that Israeli leaders were not enough to return hostages.
Trump said he wanted to see the war halt. For Netanyahu, the ceasefire will become a poisoned holy grail as his government relies on the support of far-right parties who are firmly opposed to the end of the war.
Referring to Netanyahu by his nickname, Sheikh said, “Bibi will come home with empty hands. Not Iran, not Gaza, not the person invited. He will not do anything.”