The Times of Israel is liveblogging Monday’s events as they unfold.
PM meets with US commerce secretary, trade representative for ‘productive’ meeting
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu meets US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick and Trade Representative Jamieson Greer at the Blair House in Washington.
Netanyahu and Lutnick greet each other with an embrace.
The meeting comes after the White House imposed new tariffs on Israel and a host of other allies.
According to Netanyahu’s office, the meeting was “warm and productive.”
Trump says foreign governments will have to pay ‘a lot of money’ to lift tariffs
US President Donald Trump says foreign governments will have to pay “a lot of money” to lift sweeping tariffs that he characterizes as “medicine,” prompting further carnage in global financial markets.
Asian stocks posted steep losses in early trading on Monday and US stock market futures have opened sharply lower as investors registered concerns that Trump’s tariffs could lead to higher prices, weaker demand, lower confidence and potentially a global recession.
Speaking to reporters aboard Air Force One, Trump indicates he is not concerned about losses that have already wiped out trillions of dollars in value from share markets around the world.
“I don’t want anything to go down. But sometimes you have to take medicine to fix something,” he says as he returns from a weekend of golf in Florida.
Trump says he had spoken to leaders from Europe and Asia over the weekend, who hope to convince him to lower tariffs as high as 50% due to take effect this week.
“They are coming to the table. They want to talk but there’s no talk unless they pay us a lot of money on a yearly basis,” Trump says.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu arrived in Washington yesterday to discuss, among other things, the 17 percent tariff that Trump has imposed on Israeli imports.
Israeli experts have warned that exports to the US will take a $2.3 billion hit from the tariffs, and 18,000-26,000 Israelis would likely lose their jobs.
Israel said worried as Abraham Accords partner Sudan growing closer to Iran amid civil war
Israel is concerned that Abraham Accords partner Sudan is growing close to Iran, as it looks for assistance amid the civil war that has roiled the country since 2023, the Kan public broadcaster reports.
Sudan’s military leader Abdel Fattah al-Burhan renewed diplomatic ties with Iran in July 2024, after they were severed in 2016. Since then, Kan reports, al-Burhan has received military assistance from Tehran as his forces battle the Rapid Support Forces.
The report asserted that al-Burhan turned to Iran after growing disappointed in Israel’s failure to come to his aid with military support as he had envisioned.
While al-Burhan wasn’t looking specifically for assistance from Tehran, a source close to the Sudanese ruler tells Kan that “Sudan is forced to cooperate with any party interested in supplying it with weapons.
“There is currently a great opportunity for anyone who wants to help Sudan, publicly and secretly,” the source says, adding that the North African country would have expected to receive such assistance from Israel, as it could have led to “a real breakthrough in relations.”
But when the help from Jerusalem never materialised, the source says Sudan “was left without assistance and turned to Iran, which seized the opportunity after Sudan’s friends abandoned it.”
“For the sake of Sudan’s interests, we would even make a deal with the devil,” the source adds.
US stocks appear headed for new plunge Monday in wake of Trump’s tariffs
Wall Street’s battering in the wake of US President Donald Trump’s announcement of exorbitant import levies is set to continue Monday, futures indicate late Sunday.
Around 22:35 GMT (12:35 a.m. on Monday Israel time), futures — derivative products which allow investors to bet on market outcomes — point to a 3.56 percent fall in the Dow Jones index and a 3.85 percent drop in the wider S&P 500.
IDF says troops killed Palestinian who was throwing stones at Israeli cars in the West Bank
The IDF says troops killed a Palestinian hurling stones at Israeli motorists in the West Bank this evening.
Troops of the 636th Combat Intelligence Collection Unit had staged an ambush near the town of Turmus Ayya, when they identified three Palestinians hurling stones at cars on the nearby highway.
The soldiers opened fire, killing one of the suspects and wounding the other two, the military says.
The IDF publishes footage showing the stone throwing.
במהלך פעילות מבצעית של לוחמים מיחידה 636 במרחב תורמוסעייא שבחטיבת שומרון, הכוח זיהה שלושה מחבלים אשר יידו סלעים לעבר כביש מהיר עם רכבים אזרחיים.
הלוחמים ירו לעבר המחבלים שהיוו סכנה על האזרחים, חיסלו אחד מהם ופגעו בשני המחבלים הנוספים.כוחות צה״ל ימשיכו לפעול בהגנה ובהתקפה… pic.twitter.com/gqeasTE2HC
— צבא ההגנה לישראל (@idfonline) April 6, 2025