Netanyahu to meet Trump in a first encounter since the Iran war began

JERUSALEM — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's meeting with President Donald Trump on Tuesday is the first since the two leaders launched a joint war against Iran and a chance for Netanyahu to smooth out strains in their relationship. The meeting comes as both face growing pressures at home. Netanyahu is up for reelection and is embattled in part because of his deteriorating relationship with Trump. Trump is under pressure to end an unpopular war that has wreaked economic havoc and driven prices higher ahead of midterm elections this November. The two leaders also plan to discuss the framework agreement the U.S. and Israel signed with Lebanon over the Israel-Hezbollah war and the expansion of the Abraham Accords, according to a White House official, who spoke on condition of anonymity to preview the meeting. "We have a little difference," Trump said Monday when asked by reporters if he and the Israeli prime minister were on the same page with Iran. "But pretty close, yeah." Trump has had a hot-and-cold history with Netanyahu over the years, but upon his return to the White House last year, their alliance seemed stronger than ever. When they started the war together in February, it was with a united front. But as Iran fought back — sending drones and missiles into U.S. bases and choking off the Strait of Hormuz — Trump came under immense pressure. Since then, Netanyahu, who wanted to continue the fighting in Iran and against Hezbollah in Lebanon, has been sidelined as Trump sought a deal with Tehran. "The Americans are making it clear to the Israelis they are the ones who are running the war," Israeli journalist and political analyst Amit Segal wrote Monday in Israel Hayom. Netanyahu plans to share with Trump Israeli intelligence on Tehran's nuclear program. On Fox News, Netanyahu said he hoped to sit down with Trump "to hear what he has in mind" for Iran. "Because I think, in many ways, it's his decision" on how to move forward, Netanyahu said. "But one way or the other, they have to end their nuclear program," he said of Iran. Israel has lost a significant amount of bipartisan support in the United States, particularly over its conduct in Gaza. An AP-NORC poll published earlier this month found a dramatic erosion of support among American adults for Israel. "We've lost America. Thank you, Bibi," wrote Ben Caspit, a political commentator for Israel's Maariv newspaper.