Netanyahu Meets Trump at White House

Summary

Bloomberg's Dan Williams reports on the Netanyahu-Trump meeting, analyzing the signaling of a potential return to full-scale warfare with Iran, the division of military labor between the US and Israel, and Iran's response amid ongoing regional tensions.

• Netanyahu and Trump held their first meeting since the February 28 war against Iran, at the five-month mark of that conflict.
• Both leaders publicly closed ranks, showing readiness for diplomacy or, in its absence, a return to full-scale warfare against Iran.
• Iran may have interpreted the meeting as a signal and responded with a flare-up to demonstrate they are not deterred.
• Israel has been quiet in recent weeks due to an unwritten subdivision: the US takes on Iran directly while Israel focuses on Hezbollah in Lebanon.
• The US has been using bases in Israel to launch attacks against Iran, reinforcing this division of labor.
• Israel succeeded in divorcing the Lebanese front from the main Iranian front, which explains its current restraint.