WASHINGTON, DC – No world leader has visited the United States in a more official capacity than Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in the past year.
And the Israeli prime minister is set to break his own record this week by embarking on yet another visit to the United States. This is the sixth time since President Donald Trump returned to the White House in early 2025.
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The visit comes at a tense time for the region.
Israel is tightening its illegal control over the occupied West Bank. Despite a US-brokered “ceasefire,” shelling and siege of Gaza continues. And U.S. and Iranian officials are holding indirect talks to prevent war, which seemed imminent weeks ago.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has promoted a tough US approach towards Iran, and the Iran-related file is expected to be at the top of the agenda in Washington, DC.
Here, we look back at Prime Minister Netanyahu’s past visits to meet President Trump and their outcomes.
February 2025: Partnership reaffirmed
Almost exactly a year ago, Prime Minister Netanyahu became the first foreign leader to visit President Trump since the start of the US president’s second term.
The visit was aimed at reaffirming the strong ties between the US and Israel alliance and President Trump, who during Netanyahu’s own first term pushed US government policy further toward Israel.
“You are the greatest friend Israel has ever had in the White House,” Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told Trump at the time.
The Gaza ceasefire, which began in January 2025, was in effect.
However, during his visit, the US president revealed proposals to ethnically cleanse Gaza and turn the Palestinian territory into the “Riviera of the Middle East”, sparking international condemnation.
President Trump’s plan, which was fiercely opposed by Arab countries, led to the collapse of the ceasefire, and a few weeks after Prime Minister Netanyahu’s visit to Washington, D.C., Israel resumed its genocidal war in Gaza in earnest.
April: Signs of a crack?
It didn’t take long for Prime Minister Netanyahu to return to the White House, this time shortly after President Trump raised U.S. tariffs on goods from countries around the world, including Israel.
Israel’s prime minister announced measures to boost trade with the United States in a bid to exempt his country from tariffs.
But the move didn’t work out. “Remember, we support Israel in a big way,” Trump said in the Oval Office next door to Prime Minister Netanyahu when asked about the tariff relief for Israel. “We give $4 billion a year to Israel. That’s a lot.”
Another top priority for Prime Minister Netanyahu was Iran. The Israeli prime minister was seeking escalation against Tehran.
However, instead of moving toward war, President Trump announced in a meeting with Prime Minister Netanyahu that the United States and Iran would hold nuclear talks and reiterated his desire for a deal with Iran.
“We’re going to have a very big meeting and we’ll see what happens. And I think everyone agrees that it’s better to get a deal than to do the obvious thing,” Trump said at the time.
Prime Minister Netanyahu responded to U.S. diplomacy with Iran by setting maximalist conditions: complete disarmament of heavy weapons similar to the 2003 Libya model.
“I think it would be a good thing if we could do it diplomatically in a complete way, like what was done in Libya,” Netanyahu said. “But no matter what happens, we must ensure that Iran does not have nuclear weapons.”
Iran has repeatedly denied developing nuclear weapons, but Israel is widely believed to have an undeclared nuclear arsenal.
Despite signs of disagreement between Trump and Netanyahu over trade with Iran at the time, the US administration continued to support and finance Israel’s brutal attack on Gaza.
July: Victory Lap
President Trump and Prime Minister Netanyahu were not on the same page on the Iran issue a few weeks ago, but in June the United States joined Israel in bombing Iran, hitting three major nuclear facilities and fulfilling a long-held wish of the Israeli prime minister.
Prime Minister Netanyahu visited the White House a month later and praised the war and its results, which President Trump said had “obliterated” Iran’s nuclear program.
“I think the partnership between Israel and the United States, and the partnership between President Trump and myself, has resulted in a historic victory. In fact, it’s an incredible victory,” Netanyahu said.
“It brought together the great capabilities of Israel and the Israeli military, Israeli pilots, Israeli soldiers, and Mossad, and the unparalleled greatest capabilities of the United States.”
Netanyahu met with President Trump twice during the trip, as the United States was pushing for a ceasefire in Gaza amid international outrage over Israeli atrocities and forced starvation operations against Palestinians.
Some media reports suggested at the time that Trump might pressure Netanyahu to end the war, but the Israeli prime minister insisted that Netanyahu and the US president were “aligned” on Gaza.
“President Trump wants a deal, but not at any cost,” Prime Minister Netanyahu said. “I want an agreement, but not at any price. Israel has security requirements and other requirements, and we are working together to achieve them.”
September: “Ceasefire”
After the United Nations General Assembly, where much of the world expressed outrage over the devastation in Gaza, Prime Minister Netanyahu traveled to Washington, D.C., for his fourth meeting with President Trump in eight months.
President Trump had proposed a 20-point plan that would form the basis of the current Gaza “ceasefire.”
With this visit, the US president sought Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s support for his plan, which Netanyahu hailed as a new dawn for the region and the world.
“Today is a big day, a great day, and it could be one of the greatest days in the history of civilization,” Trump said at a news conference with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
“And I’m not just talking about Gaza. Gaza is one thing, but we’re talking about many things beyond Gaza. The whole deal, everything is being worked out. It’s called peace in the Middle East.”
Prime Minister Netanyahu said he accepted President Trump’s proposal, but expressed caution.
Prime Minister Netanyahu said, “Israel will retain its security responsibilities, including the security border, for the time being.”
“Gaza will have a peaceful civilian government run not by Hamas or the Palestinian Authority, but by people committed to real peace with Israel.”
More than four months after the ceasefire was supposed to take effect in the next few days, Israel continues to bomb and kill Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, while restricting access to medicine and supplies needed for temporary shelter.
December: Iran again
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu declared in July that the joint U.S. and Israeli attack on Iran had set back the country’s nuclear and missile programs, calling them “twin tumors.” Still, the prime minister returned to the United States at the end of the year and expressed concerns about the same issues.
Even before the two leaders met at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida, Trump threatened to drop more bombs on Iran.
“Now we’re hearing that Iran is trying to rise again, and if that’s the case, we’re going to have to defeat Iran,” Trump said. “We’re going to beat them. We’re going to beat the hell out of them. But hopefully that doesn’t happen.”
From there, President Trump and Prime Minister Netanyahu praised each other and dismissed media reports that they disagreed on the future of Gaza and other regional issues.
President Trump called Prime Minister Netanyahu a “hero” and argued that Israel might not exist without his leadership.
President Trump told Prime Minister Netanyahu: “We are with you and we will always be with you. There are a lot of good things happening in the Middle East.”
The prime minister announced that he would award President Trump the Israel Prize, which is normally given to Israeli citizens.
“I have to say that this reflects the overwhelming sentiment of Israelis from all walks of life,” Prime Minister Netanyahu said.
Days after that meeting, anti-government protests erupted in Iran, with President Trump promising “help is on the way” to demonstrators facing a security crackdown and threatening military intervention.
That threat never materialized.
With protests in Iran largely subdued and diplomacy between the United States and Iran resuming, the Israeli prime minister is likely to return to Washington, D.C., this week to lobby for increased pressure on Iran.
What remains to be seen is how the US president, who like his predecessor has shown reluctance to say “no” to Israeli demands, will react.
