Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu arrived in Washington DC on Sunday night ahead of a series of hastily arranged meetings with US President Donald Trump and senior US officials over the next two days.
The meetings will largely focus on the ongoing war in the Gaza Strip and the hostages, of whom 59 are still in captivity, as well as Trump’s new tariff policy, under which Israeli goods face a 17 percent US tariff.
The premier departed for Washington from Budapest on Sunday, less than 24 hours after the trip was announced.
The visit, which is expected to last until Tuesday but which Channel 12 reported could be extended, was said to have been planned following a three-way conversation last week between Netanyahu, Trump, and Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban.
Upon his arrival in Washington with his wife Sara, the premier headed from the airport to Blair House in a convoy, where he was scheduled to meet with Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick.
According to the Haaretz daily, the Wing of Zion state plane took a flight path that increased the journey from Budapest to Washington by some 400 kilometers, in order to avoid flying over countries seen as likely to enforce the arrest warrant issued against him by the International Criminal Court, should the plane be forced to make an emergency landing.
As Israel believes that Ireland, Iceland, and the Netherlands would all enforce the ICC warrant, issued for alleged war crimes in Gaza, Wing of Zion instead flew over Croatia, Italy and France, Haaretz said.
It would not be the first time that the premier’s flights have taken convoluted routes so as to avoid the risk of Netanyahu being arrested.
In February, when the premier traveled to Washington to meet with Trump weeks after undergoing surgery, his flight took a longer path to ensure that it was flying over US army bases in an event that it needed to land for medical reasons.
While in Washington, Netanyahu will meet with Trump at the White House at 1 p.m. local time — 8 p.m. in Israel, during primetime news broadcasts — and the two will give joint statements in the Oval Office.
After the statements, a wide-ranging meeting is expected, in which Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer and US Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff are expected to participate, among other aides to the two leaders.
Witkoff has spearheaded efforts to reach a hostage-ceasefire deal in Gaza, following the collapse of the previous agreement, which would have required Israel to end the war, and the subsequent return to fighting in the Strip.
Dermer has led the Israeli negotiating team in that effort since mid-February, shortly before the collapse of the deal. Netanyahu appointed the strategic affairs minister to the role after pushing aside Mossad chief David Barnea, Shin Bet chief Ronen Bar — whom Netanyahu is now trying to fire — and IDF hostage point man Nitzan Alon.
After the wide-ranging meeting, Netanyahu and Trump will hold a joint press conference in the East Wing of the White House, according to Channel 12.
The broader meeting on Monday is expected to focus on the renewed fighting in the Gaza Strip, as well as the plight of the 59 hostages still held captive there, of whom 24 are believed to be alive.
According to Haaretz, Netanyahu will push during the meeting for Witkoff to increase the pressure on mediating countries Qatar and Egypt in order to bring Hamas around to the idea of a partial, temporary ceasefire in exchange for several living hostages, rather than a permanent end to the war, as the terror group is demanding.
Citing an unnamed source in Netanyahu’s entourage, Haaretz reported that Israel believes the 59 remaining hostages are all being held in tunnels under Gaza.
The source added that Israel is pleased with the direction that the renewed offensive is moving in, and that around 40% of the Gaza Strip’s 140 square miles (363 square km) is held by Israeli forces.
The source said Trump is unlikely to pressure Netanyahu to bring the war to an end, Haaretz added.
Along with the Gaza war, top of the agenda for Netanyahu’s DC visit was the US’s new tariff policy.
Under the new policy, Israeli goods face a 17 percent US tariff, leading to concerns in Jerusalem as the US is Israel’s closest ally and largest single trading partner.
Ahead of Netanyahu’s departure, the Manufacturers Association of Israel presented him with an analysis warning of the massive potential hit to the economy from the president’s new tariffs.
According to the document, Israeli 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.
If additional tariffs are placed on the pharmaceutical and chip industries, which have so far been left out of Trump’s sweeping edict, the damage to Israeli exports could reach $3 billion, the association warns.
The areas expected to be hit hardest, it says, are hi-tech, including biotech, plastics, metals, chemicals and fuels, robotics, and electronic components.
Speaking to reporters aboard Air Force One, Trump confirmed late Sunday that he would be talking about the tariffs with Netanyahu, but remained vague on the other items on the agenda.
“We’re going to talk about trade, and we’re going to talk about the obvious subject, you know what the obvious subject is,” he said. “There are a lot of things going on with the Middle East right now that have to be silenced.”