Talks on Monday between Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and US President Donald Trump are expected to be dominated by Washington’s shock tariffs on Israel and escalating tensions with Iran.
Netanyahu becomes the first foreign leader to meet with Trump in the US capital since the president unveiled sweeping levies on multiple countries in his “Liberation Day” announcement on Wednesday.
Arriving in Washington direct from a visit to Hungary, Netanyahu’s chief objective will be to persuade Trump to reverse the decision, or at the very least to reduce the 17 percent levy set to be imposed on Israeli imports before it takes effect.
Such an exemption would not only benefit Trump’s closest Middle East ally but also “please Republicans in Congress, whose voters care about Israel, but are unwilling to confront Trump on this at this point,” he said.
Israel had attempted to avoid the new levy by moving preemptively a day before Trump’s announcement and lifting all remaining duties on the one percent of American goods still affected by them.
But Trump still went ahead with his new policy, saying the United States had a significant trade deficit with Israel, a top beneficiary of US military aid.
The Israeli leader’s US trip is “also a way for Netanyahu to play the game and show Trump that Israel is going along with him,” said Yannay Spitzer, a professor of economics at Hebrew University.
AFP/ Yahoo