Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu asked Secretary of State Mike Pompeo yesterday to pass a strong warning to the Lebanese government that Israel will hold it responsible if Hezbollah attacks Israel, Israeli officials tell me.
Why it matters: Hassan Nasrallah, Hezbollah's secretary-general, threatened to attack Israel in retaliation for a drone attack over the weekend on the organization's headquarters in Beirut. Tensions between Israel and Hezbollah are now at their highest point since the 2006 war.
The Israeli government is deeply concerned about the possibility of new U.S.-Iran nuclear talks, which President Trump discussed today alongside President Emmanuel Macron of France, 3 Israeli Cabinet ministers and 2 senior Israeli officials involved in Iran policy tell me.
Why it matters: The pressure campaign against Iran has been the main point of collaboration between the Netanyahu government and the Trump administration, and Netanyahu saw Trump's withdrawal from the Iran nuclear deal as a signature foreign policy achievement. A loosening of Trump's "maximum pressure" campaign on Iran could create tension with Israel.
President Trump claimed today that Russian President Vladimir Putin "outsmarted" President Obama when he annexed Crimea in 2014 and that Russia was expelled from the G8 because Obama was upset at having been outmaneuvered.
Why it matters: Trump wants Russia to be allowed to rejoin the G7 club, and he has repeatedly declined to blame Putin personally for the incursions into Ukraine that united the other G8 members against him. Trump said Putin had been "a good member of the G8" and that the world is better off with Russia "inside rather than outside."
French President Emmanuel Macron revealed Monday that he is attempting to broker a meeting between the U.S. and Iran in the coming weeks during a joint press conference with President Trump to close the G7 summit.
Why it matters: Trump has long said that he is willing to meet with Iranian President Hassan Rouhani, but Iranian officials have rejected the idea on grounds that the U.S. is waging "economic warfare" against them. Macron said he told Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif, who made a surprise visit to the summit over the weekend, that if such a meeting went forward he believes "an agreement could be reached." He pointed to a statement today from Rouhani that he would be willing to meet with "an individual" if it was in Iran’s interest.
President Trump said Monday during a meeting with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi on the sidelines of the G7 in Biarritz, France, that he may present his long awaited Israeli-Palestinian peace plan before Israel's Sept. 17 elections.
Why it matters: The Palestinian issue is politically explosive in Israel. Before the April elections, Trump decided to postpone the release of his peace plan until a new Israeli government could be put in place, but today's comments show he might act differently this time.
Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif arrived on Sunday at the site of the G7 summit in Biarritz, France, at the invitation of French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian, officials confirmed.
Why it matters: Zarif is viewed as the "international face" of Iran's government and was sanctioned by the U.S. last month amid a recent escalation of tensions between the 2 countries. Zarif is not expected to meet with President Trump or any U.S. officials, though Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said on Fox News that the president has previously stated his willingness to sit down for talks with Iranian officials with "no preconditions."
President Donald Trump promised Britain Sunday a "very big trade deal" with the U.S. — "bigger than we’ve ever had with the U.K." — and declared British Prime Minister Boris Johnson the "right man" to oversee Brexit, Reuters reports.
The big picture: Trump said Britain leaving the EU would be like losing "an anchor round the ankle," per the BBC.But as the Oct. 31 Brexit deadline looms, it is still unclear whether the United Kingdom can leave the European Union with an agreement in place or, indeed, whether the U.K. will leave the EU. Johnson has vowed it will happen "do or die," but experts warn that leaving without a deal could have catastrophic consequences.
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un supervised the test-firing of a "newly developed super-large multiple rocket launcher," the country's state-run KCNA news agency reports.
Why it matters: This appears to be yet another demonstration of North Korea expanding its weapons arsenal apparently with the intention of increasing leverage ahead of the possible resumption of negotiations with the U.S. to denuclearize, as AP points out.
