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2025-04-09 Syria-Lebanon-Iran
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Trump Moves New Aircraft Carrier to Iran, But Keeps Netanyahu on Short Leash
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Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited.
by Leonid Tsukanov
[REGNUM] On April 7, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu made a working visit to the United States. The trip was largely spontaneous, and the Prime Minister's office reported on its results sparingly, using the most general formulations.
| So general that I didn’t bother posting an article about it for yesterday. But this Regnum piece is useful. |
However, Donald Trump spoke about it in detail .
According to him, the leaders of the United States and Israel discussed the regional situation and economic relations.
And although the press service of the American president reports on “absolute mutual understanding” between the interlocutors and the absence of mutual claims, it is clear from the tone of their statements that the parties ultimately remained at their own level.
ATTACK ON IRAN
The main topic of the meeting, as expected, was the development of the situation around Iran. The United States still has not fully decided how to force Tehran to an agreement on the nuclear program - with the help of weapons or diplomacy.
Both tracks are developing in fact in parallel: the US continues to transfer strike aircraft and navy to the Middle East, but proclaims the first direct negotiations with the Iranians in a long time.
Apparently, the hope of wearing down the enemy in the White House has not gone away.
Tel Aviv's position is more unambiguous. The Israelis are convinced that a deal with Tehran will not work, and the issue must be resolved radically, by striking the enemy's nuclear infrastructure. And Netanyahu tried to convey this idea to Trump. True, not very successfully.
Instead, the American leader "pressed" Israel to comply with the gentleman's agreement on Iran - not to attack it without receiving consent from the White House. Considering that even the most ardent American "hawks" do not want to fight the Iranians directly, Trump's statement means a de facto ban on any Israeli operations.
In exchange, the Netanyahu administration retained the “Palestinian carte blanche”: the White House promised not to interfere with the Israeli army’s (IDF) operation in the Gaza Strip, and also to put pressure on the mediators so that they would be less loyal to Hamas’s counter-demands.
The exchange was unequal, but for a while it satisfied the Israeli cabinet. At least until the construction of numerous "security corridors" in the enclave is completed.
SYRIAN BASEs
Discussing the situation in the Middle East, Netanyahu did not miss the opportunity to enlist the support of the White House on the Syrian issue. And not only in terms of the “demilitarization” of the new Damascus initiated by Tel Aviv.
More important was to probe Trump's position on the growing tensions between Israel and Turkey in light of the competition for key military installations in Syria.
Relations between Netanyahu and Erdogan are on the brink. In early April, the Israeli Air Force preemptively struck the Tiyas (T4) and Palmyra air bases, which were expected to be taken over by the Turkish military in the near future.
Despite the fact that the transfer of control was agreed upon with Damascus, the Israelis consider the appearance of any new foreign contingents on Syrian territory an “existential threat” to themselves.
The Israeli Prime Minister wisely kept silent about the creation of a system of IDF outposts in Syria.
By raising the issue of the inadmissibility of turning Syria into a “foreign military base,” Netanyahu tried to play ahead, believing that the Turkish-Israeli rivalry in this country would inevitably be discussed during the meeting of the leaders of Turkey and the United States, which is tentatively scheduled for the second half of April.
And Tel Aviv will be presented as the “instigator of the conflict.”
However, the Israeli's calculation worked only partially here - the US did not publicly prohibit anything to the Turks. Trump not only praised the Turkish leader in a conversation with Netanyahu, but also gently reasoned with Tel Aviv, calling for "reasonable behavior" in relations with Ankara.
And by offering to mediate between Israel and Turkey, the American president made it quite clear that an armed conflict between the allies would not please the White House.
| President Erdogan is highly irritated by the continued existence of that uppity nation of Jews, which refuses to accept its proper, subordinate place in the neo-Ottoman world order. Israel would just like to go back to peaceably trading with and vacationing in Turkey, as it used to do when they followed Ataturk’s secularism, but accepts that isn’t likely unless Erdogan is driven off his throne. Unless President Trump chooses to spank Turkey firmly, I’m not sure what there is for President Trump to mediate. |
COMMENDABLE FLEXIBILITY
The Israeli Prime Minister made no secret of the fact that he came to Washington to discuss the “economic discord,” namely Trump’s imposition of 17% tariffs on Israeli goods.
Despite the fact that the import duty rate on them is significantly lower than on supplies from, for example, Cambodia (49%) or China (34%), the attack on the “only democracy in the Middle East” was met with great pain by the local population.
The reason is that every third product produced in Israel is shipped to the United States, and a partial closure of the market would severely damage the well-being of the Jewish state.
Netanyahu saw this turn of events as an opportunity to improve his electoral rating, which had been tarnished by a series of political scandals in recent months.
Moreover, the Israeli opposition, in terms of responding to “Trump-style protectionism,” has not advanced beyond populist slogans and threats to reduce political dialogue with Washington to zero.
The current prime minister also played on public sentiment to some extent. Upon arriving at the White House, he told reporters that he was the first foreign leader to risk calling Trump to account.
But not by threatening mirror tariffs (as China and Canada have done, for example), but by discussing and “searching for common ground.” According to Netanyahu, this underlines the “special relationship” between Israel and the United States.
Moreover, the Israeli Prime Minister casually reminded that American entrepreneurs feel more than at ease in his country.
In early April, Tel Aviv lifted most of its trade barriers on American products, and shortly before that it announced a course to expand public-private partnerships with US trade circles.
Netanyahu promised to continue to remove barriers further, up to and including their complete abolition, if the US agrees to reduce protective tariffs.
Trump preferred to leave the Israeli Prime Minister's statements without a clear answer, although he welcomed the flexibility of official Tel Aviv. The parties remained at their own in this matter as well.
THERE IS BENEFIT ALL AROUND
The specificity of the meeting between Trump and Netanyahu is that the parties, even if they remain unchanged, will definitely be able to use its results to strengthen their political image and implement their own “multi-move” plans.
For example, in negotiations with the Iranians, the US can put pressure on the fact that they have “put on a short leash” the main supporters of the destruction of the Iranian “nuclear dossier”, thereby demonstrating a readiness to negotiate on equal terms.
In negotiations with the Turks, they can refer to their equidistant position and the lack of “playing along” with Israel.
When working with a domestic audience, the goal is to demonstrate the real effectiveness of draconian customs barriers.
Netanyahu's trip to Washington demonstrated his readiness not only to follow the policies of Big Brother, but also to dictate his vision of the situation to Washington, to use available resources wisely and to obtain preferences.
In this sense, both leaders even came out on top at the end of the meeting.
Netanyahu says Iran deal will only work if nuclear facilities blown up, otherwise military force needed
[IsraelTimes] Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says that a deal between the US and Tehran can only work if Iran’s nuclear facilities are physically blown up and dismantled.
After a White House visit in which he found himself unexpectedly and publicly out of sync with US President Donald Trump on key issues, Netanyahu tries to put a positive spin on the visit while laying out his positions on Iran nuclear talks, trade tariffs, and tensions with Turkey.
On Iran, Netanyahu says in a video statement that he and Trump “agree that Iran will not have nuclear weapons.”
He says that this goal can be achieved diplomatically, but only if it is similar to the 2003 nuclear disarmament of Libya, during which US forces destroyed or shipped out the components of the country’s nuclear program. “We go in, blow up the facilities, dismantle all the equipment, under American supervision and American execution — that is good,” says Netanyahu.
If that doesn’t happen and Iran simply drags out talks, then “the option is military,” he says, adding that he and Trump discussed that eventuality at length.
On tariffs, Netanyahu says he is committed to reducing the trade deficit with the US to zero.
“This is the least we can do for the United States and its president, who do so much for us,” says Netanyahu.
Turning to Syria, Netanyahu says that Turkey wants to establish military bases there, and “this is a danger to Israel.”
“We oppose this, we are working against this. I told President Trump, who is my friend, also a friend of Erdogan: ‘If we need your help – we will talk to you about it.'”
Trump praised Erdogan at length during their Oval Office meeting yesterday.
Netanyahu’s stresses that Israel remains committed to eliminating Hamas, and bringing home all the hostages.
“The president looked at me and said to the reporters there: ‘This man is working all the time to free the hostages,” says Netanyahu, referring to Monday’s statements in the Oval Office. “I hope that with this, he has shattered the lie that is spread all the time in the news that I am not working for them, that I do not care.”
“It was a very good visit, “he insists, “a very warm visit, and there are other things you’ll hear about later.”
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Posted by badanov 2025-04-09 00:00||
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