Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will meet with US President Donald Trump at the White House next Tuesday, the prime minister’s office announced.
It added that the meeting coincided with Prime Minister Netanyahu’s visit to Sen. Lindsey Graham’s funeral. The Republican, one of Washington’s most ardent supporters of Israel, died suddenly last week.
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“At the invitation of President Trump, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will depart for Washington on Monday for an official visit,” the statement said.
“As part of the visit, the prime minister will meet with President Trump at the White House on Tuesday and attend the funeral of Sen. Lindsey Graham.”
Netanyahu’s visit to the White House will be the seventh of Trump’s second term, far more than any other world leader, and underlines the administration’s continued commitment to Israel.
This comes amid a renewed escalation in the US-Israel war on Iran following the breakdown of a ceasefire reached earlier this month as part of a memorandum of understanding (MoU) signed by the US and Iran.
Israel, which continues its military operations in Lebanon, opposed the memorandum, saying it threatened to derail diplomatic negotiations. The Trump administration has overseen talks between Lebanon and Israel aimed at ending the war without Hezbollah.
Although both Israel and Lebanon have agreed on a plan aimed at handing over Israeli-occupied territory to the Lebanese army, the facts on the ground have changed little since March. In a meeting with Lebanese President Joseph Aoun earlier this week, President Trump did not say when Israel would withdraw.
Also Friday, U.S. Central Command announced that its forces had completed their 13th consecutive night of attacks on Iran. Iran has been retaliating against U.S. assets in the region, including airstrikes on a base in Jordan last week that killed three U.S. soldiers.
The U.S. government has also stepped up efforts to transfer military assets to Israel, a move some analysts see as a sign of further escalation to come.
The visit also comes as Israel’s genocidal war in Gaza continues, with Israeli forces continuing to issue eviction orders and launch near-daily attacks despite a US-backed “ceasefire” that began last October.
An analysis by the United Nations agency found that an estimated 1.4 million people, or 67 percent of Gaza’s population, remain suffering from “severe food insecurity at crisis or higher levels.”
At least 73,311 Palestinians have died in the war, according to local health authorities, including 1,185 since the start of the current ceasefire.
Israeli attacks have intensified again in the occupied West Bank, with four Palestinians killed in an attack by Israeli forces and settlers southwest of Nablus on Friday, the Palestinian Ministry of Health said.
Israeli health authorities reported that one Israeli settler was killed and others injured in the area.
At least 86 Palestinians have been killed by Israelis across the occupied West Bank since the beginning of this year, 21 of whom were shot dead by settlers.
threat of arrest
The visit to the United States comes as New York City Mayor Zoran Mamdani called on federal authorities to arrest Netanyahu, who has been indicted by the International Criminal Court (ICC) on charges related to war crimes in Gaza.
Mamdani had previously threatened to use New York City police to arrest Netanyahu, but admitted earlier this week that he did not have the “authority to do so.” Prime Minister Netanyahu is scheduled to visit New York to attend the United Nations General Assembly in September.
The United States is not a signatory to the ICC’s founding document, the Rome Statute, so it is not subject to the court’s jurisdiction. The Trump administration has taken a more aggressive approach to the court, declaring a “whole-of-government” campaign that includes sanctions against ICC officials and groups supporting the investigation.
President Trump has ruled out the possibility of Prime Minister Netanyahu being arrested while in the United States.
“Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will not be arrested in any way while in the United States,” he posted on Truth Social on Monday.
Rather, he praised Israel’s role in the fight against Iran. The US Congress is currently considering a defense budget with an eye toward military integration between the US and Israel, significantly deepening their relationship.
But polls show that Israel’s standing in the United States has plummeted amid the Gaza war.
Recently, several prominent right-wing figures have accused Israel of dragging the United States into war with Iran. The conflict has been going on for five months, with no end in sight.
