U.S. President Donald Trump and Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu agreed to meet in the United States soon for a summit. Attention is on whether they can realign the alliance as discord has grown between the two sides over a plan to end the war with Iran.
AFP reported on the 3rd, citing the Israel Prime Minister's Office, that President Trump and Prime Minister Netanyahu agreed to hold a summit in the United States.
The Israel Prime Minister's Office said in a statement that day, while informing of the call, "Prime Minister Netanyahu said the United States is the bastion of freedom in the world and Israel highly values the close relationship between the two countries," and "Prime Minister Netanyahu and President Trump agreed to meet in the United States soon."
It also said that Prime Minister Netanyahu delivered a message congratulating the 250th Independence Day of the United States.
The United States and Israel carried out simultaneous airstrikes on Iran on Feb. 28.
The two longtime allies jointly attacked Iran with the aim of dismantling its nuclear weapons development program, but recently discord has emerged between the two over how to end the war with Iran.
Trump, ahead of the midterm elections in November this year, has been trying to hasten an end to the war amid intensifying opposition in the United States, but Prime Minister Netanyahu has not stopped the military operation.
In early last month, when U.S.-Iran cease-fire talks were in full swing, Israel bombed Lebanon targeting Hezbollah, a pro-Iran armed faction.
President Trump was reported to have called Prime Minister Netanyahu and, mixing in profanity, scolded, "What on earth are you doing," "crazy," and "ungrateful."
In and outside Israel, suspicions are gaining traction that Prime Minister Netanyahu has no choice but to insist on continuing the war because of his corruption trial.
If Netanyahu stops the war targeting Hezbollah, the coalition that installed him as prime minister is likely to collapse, and with the loss of power, legal proceedings could rapidly gain momentum.
On the 2nd, the New York Times (NYT) reported that Israel tried to assassinate the leadership of Iran's negotiating team before and after the first cease-fire talks between the United States and Iran in April. The United States, which obtained this intelligence at the time, was said to have urgently responded by asking Israel to refrain from the attack while informing Iran of the relevant facts.