Netanyahu, Trump to Meet, Smooth Issues07/28 06:15

   Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's meeting with President Donald 
Trump on Tuesday is the first since the two leaders launched a joint war 
against Iran and a chance for Netanyahu to smooth out strains in their 
relationship.

   JERUSALEM (AP) -- Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's meeting with 
President Donald Trump on Tuesday is the first since the two leaders launched a 
joint war against Iran and a chance for Netanyahu to smooth out strains in 
their relationship.

   The meeting comes as both face growing pressures at home. Netanyahu is up 
for reelection and is embattled in part because of his deteriorating 
relationship with Trump. Trump is under pressure to end an unpopular war that 
has wreaked economic havoc and driven prices higher ahead of midterm elections 
this November.

   The two leaders also plan to discuss the framework agreement the U.S. and 
Israel signed with Lebanon over the Israel-Hezbollah war and the expansion of 
the Abraham Accords, according to a White House official, who spoke on 
condition of anonymity to preview the meeting.

   "We have a little difference," Trump said Monday when asked by reporters if 
he and the Israeli prime minister were on the same page with Iran. "But pretty 
close, yeah."

   Trump and Netanyahu's relationship has ebbed before

   Trump has had a hot-and-cold history with Netanyahu over the years, but upon 
his return to the White House last year, their alliance seemed stronger than 
ever. When they started the war together in February, it was with a united 
front, touting their respective militaries as acting in lockstep to take out 
Iran's leadership and pave the way for a government more friendly to the West.

   But as Iran fought back -- sending drones and missiles slamming into U.S. 
bases and high-rises in cities in the Gulf, and choking off the Strait of 
Hormuz -- Trump came under immense pressure both at home and by allies in the 
region to end the conflict.

   Since then, Netanyahu, who wanted to continue the fighting in Iran and 
against its ally, Hezbollah, in Lebanon, has been sidelined as Trump sought a 
deal with Tehran. His visit to the White House this week comes as the 
disagreements with Trump and Vice President JD Vance have burst into the open 
over the war in Iran and more.

   "The Americans are making it clear to the Israelis they are the ones who are 
running the war," Israeli journalist and political analyst Amit Segal wrote 
Monday in the daily newspaper, Israel Hayom. "It is clear to everyone that 
Israel has been put in the back seat."

   Netanyahu keeping focus on Iran's nuclear program

   With U.S.-Iran tensions flaring again in recent weeks, Netanyahu plans to 
share with Trump Israeli intelligence on Tehran's nuclear program, according to 
a person familiar with Netanyahu's visit, who spoke on the condition of 
anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the media.

   On Fox News Channel's "Sunday Morning Futures" with Maria Bartiromo, 
Netanyahu said he hoped to sit down with Trump "to hear what he has in mind" 
for Iran.

   "Because I think, in many ways, it's his decision" on how to move forward, 
Netanyahu said. "If he can do so without returning to intense military 
fighting, that's fine. Why not?

   "But one way or the other, they have to end their nuclear program," he said 
of Iran.

   Netanyahu also used the interview to warn Iran against attacking his 
country, saying Israel's response would be "very forceful."

   Steps to allow other forces in Gaza and in Lebanon

   But even as Netanyahu sees an opportunity, he also needs to persuade Trump 
that he won't play spoiler to U.S. diplomatic and reconstruction efforts in 
Gaza and in Lebanon, where the president has previously complained that "too 
many people are being killed" by Israeli strikes.

   Israel has taken recent steps in both places.

   In Lebanon, where the Israeli military occupies much of the south, Israel 
agreed to allow the Lebanese army to deploy to some villages as part of a 
"pilot program" testing their ability to secure areas where Hezbollah once 
operated. The U.S. State Department said Monday the next round of talks between 
Israel and Lebanon will take place next week in Rome with a focus on expanding 
the program.

   On Gaza, Israel's security cabinet green-lit on Sunday a measure that would, 
in theory, grant entry to the first members of an international stabilization 
force outlined last year in a U.S.-backed ceasefire deal between Israel and 
Hamas.

   Few countries have pledged troops for the force, however, and Israel would 
approve their entry into Gaza on a case-by-case basis.

   The troops -- including from Morocco and Uganda -- would only be allowed to 
operate in a small, desolate area in Rafah in the south, where the plan is to 
vet and house some displaced Palestinians.

   The Israeli military continues to carry out strikes it says target militants 
but that have also killed civilians.

   Support for Israel has eroded

   Israel has lost a significant amount of bipartisan support in the United 
States, particularly over its conduct in Gaza.

   In June, Vance warned Israeli officials that Trump was their only friend 
among world leaders. Vance is expected to attend the meeting with Netanyahu, 
according to a person familiar with the plan who was not authorized to speak 
publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity.

   An AP-NORC poll published earlier this month found a dramatic erosion of 
support among American adults for Israel.

   "We've lost America. Thank you, Bibi," wrote Ben Caspit, a political 
commentator for Israel's Maariv newspaper.