US President Donald Trump is expected to host Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the White House on Wednesday to discuss continuing US nuclear talks with Iran, with experts saying Gaza is unlikely to be a priority.
The meeting – the seventh between the two leaders since Mr Trump took office – was reportedly moved up from its original date of February 18. The White House has not yet officially confirmed the visit.
Mr Netanyahu announced the trip on Saturday, saying the talks would focus on ensuring that any US–Iran agreement includes limits on Tehran’s ballistic-missile programme and its support for proxy groups.
US officials held indirect talks with Iranian negotiators in Oman on Friday, with envoy Steve Witkoff and Mr Trump’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner, taking part. Mr Trump described the discussions as “very good” and said more negotiations would take place this week.
Experts say Mr Netanyahu hopes to keep Israel’s military options open, and probably those of the US as well, after Mr Trump appeared to pull back from imminent military action against Iran.
For weeks, the President has threatened force to pressure Tehran into a deal on its nuclear programme. Amid a sweeping crackdown on nationwide protests in Iran that left thousands dead, Mr Trump sent the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln and other US warships to the region.
His reluctance to order strikes, however, was driven by concerns raised by regional allies as well as the absence of a clear military solution, said Nate Swanson, director of the Iran Strategy Project at the Atlantic Council.
“The Gulf has played a huge role. All of Iran’s neighbours are very worried about strikes. I think that’s a really big factor,” Mr Swanson told The National. “The military options are also legitimately bad. There is no clear silver bullet here.”
With Iran’s negotiating position hardened on most issues and deep mistrust on both sides, analysts say a comprehensive, long-term agreement is unlikely. Mr Trump said on Friday that a deal addressing only nuclear issues “would be acceptable".
“There’s room there for Trump to give very little and get something that might be enough to satisfy everyone,” Mr Swanson said. “But big stuff is not going to happen.”
Still, Mr Netanyahu appears to retain influence over the US President. In June last year, the US joined an Israeli military campaign against Iran’s uranium-enrichment and other nuclear sites in the most direct American military action ever taken against the country.
Gaza Phase Two
The visit also comes as Mr Trump prepares for the first meeting of the Board of Peace, a body that he will chair. The board is intended to oversee a reconstruction plan for Gaza.
It remains unclear how much of Wednesday’s meeting will focus on the war-torn Palestinian enclave.
“Gaza is not a priority,” said Khaled Elgindy, a senior fellow at the Quincy Institute. “I don’t see Gaza as being a major source of contention.”
Mr Trump brokered a ceasefire and hostage-release agreement in Gaza last October, ending a two-year war in the enclave that killed more than 71,000 Palestinians. Despite the ceasefire, Israeli strikes on the coastal strip have continued, killing scores.
The war began with a Hamas attack on Israel on October 7, 2023, which killed 1,200 people.
The second phase of the ceasefire plan includes transferring governance of Gaza to a UN-sanctioned Palestinian committee, the disarmament of Hamas, and the posting of an International Stabilisation Force to maintain security. It also calls for reopening the Rafah crossing with Egypt.
Only a small number of people, many in urgent need of medical care, have been permitted to leave the enclave, while even fewer have been allowed to return amid continued Israeli restrictions.
Mr Netanyahu's visit to Washington comes after Israel took a major step towards annexing the occupied West Bank. Its security cabinet announced on Sunday a series of measures that will allow Israeli settlers to accelerate their control over the territory.
The measures, advanced by ministers in Israel's far-right government, overturn decades of rules – under signed agreements – that prohibited Israelis from buying land in areas where the Palestinian Authority is supposed to have partial control.
Mr Trump had previously said that he would not allow Israel to annex the West Bank.
The plans have been condemned by Arab and Muslim countries and many in the West who view a two-state solution as the only way to resolve the decades-long Palestinian-Israeli conflict.
