Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu did not achieve his goal from the marathon meeting with U.S. President Donald Trump at the White House (three hours) - namely, halting the U.S.–Iran negotiations and moving toward preparations for war.

On the contrary, Netanyahu encountered Trump’s “insistence” on continuing the talks to explore the possibility of reaching an agreement, without delving into the details of what such a deal would include  - and whether it would cover Iran’s missiles and regional influence, as the Israeli prime minister has been pressing for, should the White House proceed with the diplomatic option.

The formalities surrounding the seventh Trump–Netanyahu meeting in a year suggest that the U.S. president does not want to tie his Iran agenda entirely to Israel’s. Netanyahu entered the White House through a back door to avoid pro-Palestinian demonstrators, the meeting did not receive extensive media coverage as is usually the case, and it ended without a joint press conference.

Substantively, Trump granted diplomacy with Iran another chance, while keeping U.S. preparations moving forward. This is reflected in the Pentagon’s readiness to send a second aircraft carrier to the Middle East, to join the USS Abraham Lincoln.

As a result, the upcoming negotiations with Iran will be surrounded by additional elements of force, which Trump hopes will convince the regime that war is inevitable unless it shows the flexibility needed to reach an agreement.

Alongside the second aircraft carrier, Trump also now holds another pressure card: Netanyahu, who favors the military option. In June, Israel may have initiated the war on its own, but it would not have done so without a U.S. green light - which came amid Trump’s belief that Tehran was seeking to prolong negotiations as much as possible while continuing to enrich uranium to 60%.


This time, however, the decision for war lies with Trump. He - not Israel - will determine the next steps if diplomacy fails. The current negotiations are taking place in a different strategic environment.

At present, there is no enrichment, and Iran is weaker than it was in June due to a deepening economic crisis and internal unrest. Therefore, it is not in Tehran’s interest to prolong the talks. It suits Iran to reach an agreement that eases U.S. sanctions, giving its economy a boost and calming public opinion.

In this context, Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan made a striking remark to Britain’s Financial Times, saying that both the United States and Iran are showing flexibility toward a nuclear deal, while Washington appears “ready” to tolerate some uranium enrichment. He warned that expanding the scope of negotiations to include ballistic missiles would only lead to “another war.”

Turkey, Egypt and the Arab Gulf states are among the parties that prefer the diplomatic option over igniting another fire in the region, and they are urging Washington and Tehran to reach an agreement.

Trump is currently viewing the Middle East through a broader lens, taking into account that a new war with Iran would have negative repercussions on U.S. efforts to advance its plan in Gaza and to solidify the “Peace Council,” which is supposed to oversee the implementation of the second phase of the plan.

Trump also made sure to highlight in his post about the meeting with Netanyahu that the discussion included “the great progress made in Gaza, and in the region more broadly.”