Prime Minister Netanyahu landed in Washington D.C. on Monday night, ahead of his first official meeting with President Donald Trump on Wednesday.
Netanyahu began his visit with meetings with his consultants and Israel’s Ambassador to the US Ron Dermer at Blair House.
He will also meet Vice President Mike Pence and Secretary of State Rex Tillerson.
Iran will be the primary subject for discussion between Trump and Netanyahu, but the issues of the Palestinian Authority, Syria, moving the US embassy to Jerusalem, and most interestingly, Jonathan Pollard will also be raised.
Likud and Bayit Yehudi members have been pushing Netanyahu to discuss the idea of applying sovereignty over all or part of Area C.
Since the elections, Trump has flip-flopped on his positions on the Israeli communities in Judea and Samaria as well as on moving the US embassy to Jerusalem.
Some attribute his contradictory statements to pressure from Arab leaders, others claim Trump himself doesn’t know what he wants and is waiting for Netanyahu to tell him what is best for Israel, while some have speculated that Trump simply made campaign promises that he doesn’t intend, or is unable to keep now that he’s in office, just like every other politician.
There is concern in Israel, among many politicians from the center-right parties that they also don’t really know what Netanyahu truly envisions for the future of Israel, or worse, that he may now actually believe in the two-state solution, and he will advise Trump to not let Israel take any steps to undermine it.
Netanyahu himself may not know what to expect next from Trump, and he’ll be playing it extra-cautious.
Most likely, the two world leaders will finish their meeting with some very pleasant public statements. They’ll agree to agree on many issues, and continue to discuss the others.
There is no doubt though that Netanyahu’s meeting with Trump will be far more friendly and cordial than any of Netanyahu’s meetings with former-President Obama, and the two will get along famously.
At least that’s an improvement.