After meeting to discuss a number of issues at the White House Monday afternoon, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and President Donald Trump said that Israel would be eliminating trade barriers with the U.S. and that the U.S. has an important meeting planned with Iran for Saturday.
“We will eliminate the trade deficit with the United States,” Netanyahu told reporters Monday afternoon. “We’re also going to eliminate trade barriers… that have been put up unnecessarily, and I think Israel can serve as a model for many countries who ought to do the same.”
The prime minister said he understood why the U.S. has chosen to raise tariffs across the board, as its tariffs in many cases have been much less than those other countries have imposed on America. He said Israel would move quickly to improve its trade policies with the U.S.
Trump said that the U.S. is planning for a “major” meeting with Iran on Saturday with “top-level” personnel and that he hopes that all parties can avoid further escalation of conflict.
“We’re having direct talks with Iran… It’ll go on Saturday. We’re having a very big meeting, and we’ll see what can happen,” Trump said. “I think everybody agrees that doing a deal would be preferable to doing the obvious.”
Trump has demanded that Iran sign a new nuclear deal, replacing one from 2015, or be bombed. Iran has held its ground and refused to negotiate directly, sparking talks of war. Though Trump has threatened military action, he suggested that it’s not what he wants to do.
“The obvious is not something that I want to be involved with or, frankly, that Israel wants to be involved with if they can avoid it. So we’re going to see if we can avoid it,” Trump said.
He said all parties could arrive at an agreement that was positive for everyone, but that Iran would be “in great danger” if it remained unwilling to compromise.
“They can’t have a nuclear weapon,” Trump said.
The Telegraph reported that the U.S. transported an “advanced missile system to Israel” before Netanyahu visited Monday.
