Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Thursday concluded an urgent official visit to the United States during which he held a three-hour meeting with President Donald Trump.
In a short address before boarding the official state plane Wing of Zion, Netanyahu defined the meeting as "excellent," and noted that President Trump believes that the Iranians understand the cost of refusing a deal.
At the center of the talks stood an Israeli fear of a "limited" nuclear deal, which would focus only on enrichment and not on the ballistic missile threat or the support for Iran's regional proxies.
"We have a strong, true, and open relationship," Netanyahu said of Trump, and added that the discussions "dealt with several issues, but focused mainly on the negotiations with Iran."
According to Netanyahu, "The President believes that the Iranians have already learned who they are dealing with. I think that the conditions he is setting, together with their understanding that they made a mistake last time when they didn't reach a deal, may lead them to agree to conditions that will enable a good deal."
"I want to say clearly," Netanyahu continued, "I do not hide my general doubtfulness about the possibility of reaching any deal with Iran. That being said, I made it clear that if a deal is reached, it must include the components that are important to us, the State of Israel, and in my opinion, the entire international community: not only the nuclear issue, but also the ballistic missiles, and the Iranian proxies in the region."
The Prime Minister concluded, "It was an excellent conversation. Of course, we spoke about Gaza, the entire region, and other general topics. In any case, it was another conversation with a great friend of the State of Israel, I president like there never was."