A double summit amid two wars

President Donald Trump will receive Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy at the White House on Tuesday for separate meetings, the first face-to-face talks with Netanyahu since the US and Israel launched strikes on Iran in February. Both leaders are in Washington to attend the funeral of Republican Senator Lindsey Graham, a close Trump ally and a firm backer of aid to Ukraine and Israel. The meetings come as the US-Iran war enters its fifth month and the Ukraine-Russia conflict reaches what a White House official called a decisive moment.

The Netanyahu agenda: Iran, Lebanon, and the Abraham Accords

Netanyahu told reporters before departing for Washington that the talks would cover "all the issues on the agenda, first and foremost Iran." A White House official said the discussions will also address Israel-Lebanon tensions, the expansion of the Abraham Accords (the normalization deals with the UAE, Bahrain, Morocco, and Sudan), and Trump's stated wish for Saudi Arabia to join them. Riyadh continues to condition that step on a clear path toward a Palestinian state. This will be Netanyahu's eighth meeting with Trump since the president returned to the White House, and the first since before the February strikes.

“In these complicated times, we must act with both great determination and great wisdom. We will discuss all the issues on the agenda, first and foremost Iran.”

Friction beneath the alliance

Trump acknowledged on Monday that he and Netanyahu are not in full agreement on Iran. "We have a small difference of opinion, but we're pretty close," he told reporters aboard Air Force One. The relationship has been strained in recent months: US media reported that Trump called Netanyahu "completely nuts" during a June phone call, a characterization the president later confirmed. The White House has grown frustrated with the lack of progress toward a broader resolution of the Iran conflict, and Trump has publicly pushed Netanyahu to moderate Israeli strikes against Hezbollah in Lebanon.

'America First' allies warn against deeper entanglement

Steve Bannon, Trump's former chief White House strategist, told Politico that Netanyahu's visits have been "a disaster" for the America First agenda. "I think all of President Trump's most ardent supporters who are not part of the 'Israel First' movement are furious," Bannon said. He noted that Netanyahu has had twice as many White House visits in the last 18 months as Winston Churchill had during all of World War II, adding that "each one has been a disaster for the 'America First' movement." Many anti-interventionist Trump supporters had hoped the weekend pause in US-Iran hostilities would lead to a permanent end to the conflict. Instead, they fear Netanyahu, on his seventh Washington visit since Trump's return, will persuade the president to prolong the war.

“Netanyahu has had twice as many visits to the White House in the last 18 months as Winston Churchill had in all of World War II, and each one has been a disaster for the 'America First' movement.”

The fragile Iran pause

After nearly two weeks of reciprocal attacks, the US and Iran suspended hostilities over the weekend in hopes of reaching a new ceasefire. The two sides have now avoided striking each other for three consecutive nights, a signal that both are trying to give negotiations another chance over the Strait of Hormuz, one of the world's most critical oil and gas shipping routes. Trump continues to threaten Iran with "massive attacks" if talks fail. Israel did not participate in the US strikes on Iran over the past two weeks, and Netanyahu has acknowledged diverging Israeli and American interests in the region.

Zelenskiy's shopping list: Patriot interceptors and drones

Zelenskiy's private meeting with Trump will focus on the ongoing Russia-Ukraine peace process. A White House official said "now is the time to end the war." The Ukrainian president will seek approval to purchase interceptors for Patriot air-defense systems and to finalize a drone agreement. The two will also discuss Trump's announcement at the NATO summit that the US would grant Ukraine a license to produce Patriot systems. Trump on Monday downplayed Zelenskiy's accusation that Russia is feeding Iran intelligence on US military bases, saying: "I don't think they did that, certainly not at a high level." The visit follows Ukraine's acknowledgment that it struck an Iranian cargo vessel in the Caspian Sea carrying Russian weaponry bound for Tehran.

Domestic stakes for Netanyahu

Reuters reported that a cordial meeting with Trump could provide an electoral boost for Netanyahu, who faces Israeli elections on October 27 and is struggling in opinion polls. Trump offered a warm preview on Monday, telling journalists: "Bibi has been extraordinary. He has been a wartime prime minister. We have worked very well together."