A senior White House official told journalist Barak Ravid that at this stage, President Donald Trump's schedule does not include a meeting with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu next week. The official's statement comes amid days of speculation about a possible visit. Ravid assessed that Netanyahu may call Trump to arrange a meeting.
On Wednesday evening, a senior White House official told Axios journalist Barak Ravid that President Donald Trump's schedule does not currently include a meeting with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu next week. The statement directly contradicts days of speculation and multiple reports in Israeli media suggesting that a visit was imminent, with some reports even providing specific dates for a departure and White House meeting. The denial comes as the desk has been tracking the story for over a week.
The thread of reports began on Sunday, July 12, when The Zioneer reported that Israeli sources said a meeting between Netanyahu and Trump had been set for Monday, though no official confirmation had been received from the White House (version 18, 12:02 Jerusalem). Later that day, journalist Shirit Avitan Cohen reported a concrete schedule: departure Sunday, meeting Trump Monday, attending Senator Lindsey Graham's funeral Tuesday (version 19, 12:02 Jerusalem). Further reports that day specified a Sunday departure and Monday meeting, without mentioning the funeral (version 20, 12:02 Jerusalem), and Channel 14 analyst Tamir Mor assessed a Monday meeting and Wednesday return (version 21, 12:02 Jerusalem). On Tuesday, July 14, reports escalated: advanced contacts were described (version 25, 22:36 Jerusalem), and an Israeli source said Netanyahu was expected to depart Saturday night, though the meeting was still not set (version 26, 22:36 Jerusalem). Throughout, the Prime Minister's Office did not issue official confirmation. The White House official's statement today marks the first explicit denial from the American side, after weeks of reports that a meeting was in the works.
Earlier, on July 4, The Zioneer reported that Israeli officials doubted the meeting would take place as originally expected (20:11 Jerusalem), and that Netanyahu and Trump had agreed in principle to a meeting (20:32 Jerusalem). The discussions take place against the backdrop of US-Iran nuclear negotiations, as The Zioneer reported on July 4. Trump had previously signaled a strong relationship with Netanyahu, saying 'Netanyahu knows who the boss is' ahead of a possible White House visit (July 4, 22:16 Jerusalem). However, the White House has also excluded Netanyahu from a G7 meeting with Mideast leaders, as reported on June 13 (18:14 Jerusalem).
Even as the White House denies a scheduled meeting, Ravid assessed that Netanyahu may still call Trump to arrange a meeting, possibly by invoking attendance at Senator Graham's funeral. However, no reports have indicated that Graham is ill, and the nature of the funeral reference remains unclear. The Prime Minister's Office has not commented on the White House denial. It is not yet known whether the trip will proceed without a meeting, or whether the meeting will be rescheduled.
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Source and signal
- Internal intake