Both men scheduled to meet Trump at time where US policy towards wars in Iran and Ukraine in state of flux
Benjamin Netanyahu and Volodymyr Zelenskyy are set to arrive in Washington simultaneously with the goal of winning the ear of Donald Trump at pivotal moments in wars affecting their respective countries.
Netanyahu, Israel’s prime minister, and Zelenskyy, the Ukrainian president, will attend Tuesday’s funeral of Lindsey Graham, the former Republican senator for South Carolina, who died suddenly on 11 July and was a close ally of both leaders.
Both men are scheduled to meet the president at a time when US policy towards the wars in Iran and Ukraine is in a state of flux.
The meeting between Trump and Netanyahu will be the first between the two leaders since February, when they were in lockstep preparing for strikes against Iran that began on 28 February.
Since then, tensions between the pair have risen as the war has drifted inconclusively, with Trump calling the Israeli premier “crazy” and declaring: “Without me, there would be no Israel.”
Fueling the tensions between the pair is continuing uncertainty over Trump’s zigzagging approach to the regime in Tehran, which he once openly supported toppling – in line with the stance of Netanyahu, who has long plotted its overthrow.
Last month, the US signed a memorandum of understanding that was meant to institute a 60-day ceasefire in the conflict, during which Iran would reopen the strategically vital strait of Hormuz and negotiations would begin over the country’s nuclear program.
Netanyahu is not believed to have been consulted on the deal, which some analysts say took little account of Israel’s interests.
Trump this month publicly repudiated the agreement as Iran continued to attack commercial ships in the strait. US forces struck Iranian targets for 13 consecutive nights as Trump threatened to escalate further by hitting civilian infrastructure.
In recent days, however, the conflict has been paused once again amid reports that negotiations have resumed and Pentagon concerns that US missile stocks are running low. Axios reportedthat Admiral Brad Cooper, head of US Central Command, had recommended stopping the bombing campaign because it had reached the limits of effectiveness.
Netanyahu is also believed to be unhappy over a deal announced last week between the US and Saudi Arabia allowing for a civil Saudi nuclear program.
Zelenskyy’s presence is equally significant as it coincides with signs of a dramatic change of Trump administration posture in Ukraine’s war with Russia – with the White House appearing more supportive of Kyiv’s position than at any time since Trump’s return to office.
The rightwing social media influencer Laura Loomer gave the latest signal of a sea change in Washington’s position when she met Zelenskyy in the Ukrainian capital last week, before publicly recanting her previous support for Russia.
Trump and Zelenskyy had a cordial meeting at this month’s Nato summit in Ankara that contrasted starkly with last year’s bitter confrontation in the White House, when Trump openly berated his Ukrainian counterpart and told him: “You don’t have the cards.”
Trump has long been open in voicing his preference for Russia’s president, Vladimir Putin.
Zelenskyy posted on social media at the weekend that he had instructed Ukraine’s intelligence services to share information on Russia’s support for Iran in the conflict with the US. He wrote on X that Ukraine had recorded Russian satellite surveillance of US military facilities in the Gulf, and that of Washington’s allies in the region.
Graham – a hawkish supporter of Israel and fierce critic of Iran’s Islamic regime – met Zelenskyy in Kyiv, the day before his death, and had been in the process of advancing a Senate bill to strengthen sanctions on Russia.
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