US President Donald Trump, who is regarded as the most amenable American president towards Israel, is seen by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as the closest one among all other presidents, as Trump stood for Israel even in the recent joint war against Iran.
However, reports suggest that relations between the two leaders have become strained and that Trump is no longer found to be trapped in Netanyahu's web, as experts argue that considerable damage has been done to the United States because of its close and accommodating ties with Netanyahu, who appears to have used America for his own political interests back home.
Netanyahu travelled to Washington on Tuesday for his first meeting with Trump since the conflict with Iran began, reportedly to revive their strained ties, at a crucial time for Netanyahu, who faces a general election in October, an ongoing corruption trial, and several unresolved regional crises.
The prospect of Netanyahu being the most welcome Israeli Prime Minister in the US has dimmed, with reports suggesting that he persuaded Trump that attacking Iran was a delicate mission aimed at overthrowing Iran's Islamic regime.
As the conflict progressed without achieving its purported objectives, criticism intensified within influential Republican circles, where some prominent conservatives accused Netanyahu of drawing the US into a costly and avoidable confrontation.
Fissures further deepened when Israel objected to the US considering the sale of F-35 fighter aircraft to Turkey and advancing a civilian nuclear cooperation agreement with Saudi Arabia, while growing concern in the US Congress over escalating settler violence in the occupied West Bank further complicated bilateral ties.
Political observers believe Netanyahu's principal objective in Washington is to reassure Israeli voters that his relationship with Trump remains intact. They also suggest he hopes to secure renewed public support from the US President amid his domestic legal troubles.
Yet analysts caution that any public display of warmth is unlikely to conceal the growing mistrust between the two men. Trump has already dismissed Israeli objections to American arms sales, remarking that no one dictates what the US should sell.