The Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, is set to travel to Washington to meet with US president Donald Trump to discuss issues including tariffs, Gaza and the “Iranian threat”, his office has confirmed.
The meeting will take place on Monday, a White House official said on the condition of anonymity.
The US and Israel are dealing with a set of extremely thorny issues, including Trump’s shock imposition of 17% tariffs on Israeli imports, an elusive search for a ceasefire in Gaza, and mounting concern over Iran’s nuclear program.
Netanyahu will meet Trump to “discuss tariffs, efforts to bring back Israeli hostages (from Gaza), Israel-Turkey relations, the Iranian threat, and the fight against the International Criminal Court”, which has accused the Israeli leader of war crimes, his Jerusalem office said in a statement.
The ICC issued an arrest warrant for Netanyahu alleging responsibility for war crimes in Gaza last November.
Tariff talks would make Netanyahu the first foreign leader to travel to Washington in an attempt to negotiate a better deal with Trump.
Israel had attempted to duck the tariffs imposed on nearly every country by moving preemptively on Tuesday – a day before Trump’s big global tariff announcement – to drop all remaining duties on the 1% of American goods still affected by them.
But Trump moved ahead with the tariffs, saying the US had a significant trade deficit with its ally and top beneficiary of military aid.
The US is Israel’s closest ally and largest single trading partner. The two countries signed a free trade agreement 40 years ago and about 98% of goods from the US are now tax-free.
An Israeli finance ministry official said on Thursday that Trump’s latest tariff announcement could impact Israel’s exports of machinery and medical equipment.
Trump’s initial 10% “baseline” tariff paid by US importers has already taken effect at US seaports, airports and customs warehouses, ushering in Trump’s full rejection of the post-second world war system of mutually agreed tariff rates.
The changes have shaken global stock markets, wiping out $5tn in value for S&P 500 index companies by Friday’s close, a record two-day decline.
Trump’s higher “reciprocal” tariff rates of 11% to 50% are due to take effect on Wednesday. European Union imports will face a 20% tariff, while Chinese goods will be hit with a 34% tariff, bringing Trump’s total new levies on China to 54%.
