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Netanyahu to meet Trump at White House amid Iran conflict escalation — AI-generated representative image. The White House in Washington, where Israeli PM Netanyahu is scheduled to meet President Trump amid US-Iran escalation.

Editorial Team

Netanyahu's seventh White House visit in Trump's second term coincides with Senator Lindsey Graham's funeral as US-Israeli operations against Iran intensify.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is scheduled to meet US President Donald Trump at the White House on Tuesday, the Prime Minister's office confirmed, as the US-Israeli military campaign against Iran intensifies. Netanyahu will depart for Washington on Monday at Trump's invitation and will also attend the funeral of Senator Lindsey Graham, a prominent Republican supporter of Israel who died suddenly last week.

The meeting marks Netanyahu's seventh White House visit during Trump's second term, far exceeding any other world leader and underscoring the administration's continued commitment to Israel. It comes at a moment of heightened regional volatility, with the US-Israeli war against Iran escalating after the collapse of a ceasefire reached under a US-Iran Memorandum of Understanding earlier this month.

Key Developments

The visit takes place against a backdrop of multiple overlapping crises:

US Central Command confirmed its forces completed a 13th consecutive night of strikes on Iran, while Iran has retaliated daily against US assets in the region, including a strike on a base in Jordan last week that killed three US soldiers.
Washington has increasingly shifted military assets to Israel, which analysts have described as a sign of a potential larger escalation.
In Gaza, the Israeli military continues to issue displacement orders and launch near-daily attacks despite the US-backed ceasefire that began in October. UN agencies estimate 1.4 million people, or 67 percent of Gaza's population, face crisis-level or worse acute food insecurity. Local health authorities report at least 73,311 Palestinians have been killed in the war, including 1,185 since the ceasefire began.
In the occupied West Bank, four Palestinians were killed on Friday in an attack by Israeli forces and settlers southwest of Nablus, according to the Palestinian Ministry of Health. Israeli health officials reported one Israeli settler was killed and others injured in the area. At least 86 Palestinians have been killed by Israelis across the West Bank since the start of the year, including 21 shot by settlers.

Regional and Diplomatic Context

Israel had opposed the US-Iran Memorandum of Understanding, and its ongoing military operations in Lebanon have repeatedly threatened to derail diplomatic efforts. The Trump administration has been overseeing separate talks between Lebanon and Israel aimed at ending hostilities, though the negotiations do not include Hezbollah. Both Israel and Lebanon have agreed to a plan to transfer Israeli-occupied areas to the Lebanese military, but the situation on the ground has remained largely unchanged since March. In a recent meeting with Lebanese President Joseph Aoun, Trump did not provide a timeline for Israel's withdrawal.

The US Congress is also considering a defence budget that would integrate the US and Israeli militaries, representing a significant deepening of bilateral military ties. Public opinion polls, however, indicate that Israel's standing in the United States has declined sharply amid the war in Gaza.

Legal and Political Dimensions

Netanyahu's US visit also comes amid calls for his arrest. New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani has urged federal officials to detain the Prime Minister, who has been indicted by the International Criminal Court (ICC) on charges related to war crimes committed in Gaza. Mamdani had previously threatened to use the New York Police Department to arrest Netanyahu but acknowledged this week that he lacks the authority to do so. Netanyahu is expected to travel to New York in September for the United Nations General Assembly.

The United States is not a signatory to the Rome Statute, the ICC's founding treaty, and is not subject to the court's jurisdiction. The Trump administration has adopted an aggressive stance toward the ICC, launching an "all-of-government" campaign that includes sanctions against ICC officials and organisations supporting its investigations. Trump publicly ruled out any possibility of Netanyahu's arrest in the US, posting on Truth Social: "Benjamin Netanyahu will not be arrested, in any way, shape, or form, while in the United States of America."

What Lies Ahead

Netanyahu is scheduled to depart for Washington on Monday and meet Trump at the White House on Tuesday, followed by attendance at Senator Lindsey Graham's funeral. The visit is expected to address the escalating conflict with Iran, ongoing military operations in Gaza, and the broader regional security situation. The outcome of discussions regarding the US defence budget and deeper military integration between the two countries remains under consideration by Congress.