Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is expected to travel to the US to attend the funeral of Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham, a longtime supporter of Israel, who died earlier this week. The date of the funeral has not yet been announced, but it is expected to take place next Tuesday. Netanyahu is expected to depart either Saturday night or Sunday morning.
No meeting has yet been scheduled between Netanyahu and US President Donald Trump. However, officials in the Prime Minister's Office are continuing efforts to secure time in the president's schedule. They believe that if the meeting is confirmed, it will likely take place on Monday, one day before Graham's funeral.
For Israel, such a meeting would be particularly important in light of the ongoing war with Iran, which is currently focused around the Strait of Hormuz. Overnight, Trump told Fox News that if Iran does not return to the negotiating table, the United States would strike infrastructure facilities and bridges, and also warned that a ground operation remained an option.
Two days earlier, Trump also threatened action against the underground nuclear facility at Pickaxe Mountain, near the Natanz nuclear site. Such moves could broaden the conflict beyond Iran's attacks on US military bases in the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait and Jordan.
Axios reported on Thursday that Trump had urged Netanyahu to withdraw Israel Defense Forces troops from Syria and resume negotiations with Damascus. According to the report, Trump also pressed Israel to advance renewed talks with Lebanon, which resumed in Rome on Wednesday.
