U.S. President Donald Trump made a highly unusual diplomatic move this week. His July 28 meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu took place behind closed doors in the Oval Office for 90 minutes, and no news conference followed.
Media reports around the world have suggested the secrecy reflected Netanyahu¡¯s waning influence or growing dissatisfaction with him within the Trump administration. That explanation, however, is not entirely convincing.
Looking at the sequence of events ¡ª the U.S.-Ukraine summit followed immediately by the U.S.-Israel summit ¡ª offers important clues to what the Trump administration was trying to accomplish. Based on the limited information available so far, one interpretation stands out.
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