Netanyahu had been expected to fly to the US on Saturday to attend the memorial service for Graham, a longtime supporter of Israel who died on July 12. No new date for Netanyahu’s visit has been announced yet. The late senator also stood in support of the Iran war, triggered by a coordinated US-Israeli strike on Tehran on February 28, 2026.
However, the two allies and their stands on the war grew to differ over the months. Tensions emerged between Netanyahu and Trump over the handling of the war, particularly Washington’s efforts to reach an agreement with Iran and its push for Israel to curb military operations in Lebanon.
The tensions spilled into public view in early June, when Trump confirmed reports that he had called Netanyahu “crazy” during an expletive-laden phone conversation over Israel’s military operations in Lebanon. Netanyahu sought to play down suggestions of a rift, stressing the strength of the US-Israel relationship and the two leaders’ shared objectives.
The differences widened as Washington moved towards an agreement with Tehran to halt the war. Reuters reported that the deal fell short of some of Israel’s war aims and could constrain Israeli military operations in Lebanon.
Israel was not part of the US-Iran negotiations, and Netanyahu said his country would not consider itself bound by the agreement.
Trump, meanwhile, publicly pushed ahead with the deal, declaring after an agreement was reached: “The deal’s all signed.” Israeli officials were caught off guard when Trump signalled that an agreement was close, Reuters reported, prompting Netanyahu to raise Israel’s concerns directly with the US president.
Vice President JD Vance later criticised what he described as an Israeli “freakout” over the Iran agreement and warned its Israeli critics that Trump was effectively the country’s only major international ally.
Weeks earlier, Netanyahu had also signalled that Israel wanted to gradually reduce its reliance on US military assistance and become more self-sufficient in defence production.
(Edited by : Tenzin Norzom)
First Published: Jul 16, 2026 3:20 PM IST
