Reuters:

By Samia Nakhoul

When they met on Monday, U.S. President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu basked in the glow of their triumph over Iran. But the show of unity masked a divergence over their endgames in Iran, Gaza and the wider Middle East.

Both leaders have touted the success of last month’s strikes on Iran’s nuclear infrastructure, declaring they had set back a programme they say is aimed at acquiring a nuclear bomb.

Yet, with intelligence assessments suggesting that Iran retains a hidden stockpile of enriched uranium and the technical capacity to rebuild, both Trump and Netanyahu know that their victory is more short-term than strategic, two diplomats say.

Where they diverge is on how to further pressure Iran, the diplomats said. Trump says his priority is to lean on diplomacy, pursuing a limited objective of ensuring Iran never develops a nuclear weapon - a goal Tehran has always denied pursuing.

In contrast, Netanyahu wants to use more force, a source familiar with the Israeli leader’s thinking said, compelling Tehran -- to the point of government collapse if necessary -- into fundamental concessions on quitting a nuclear enrichment programme seen by Israel as an existential threat.

The divide over Iran echoes the situation in the Gaza Strip.

Trump, eager to cast himself as a global peacemaker, is pushing for a new ceasefire between Israel and Hamas in the Palestinian territory, but the contours of any post-war deal remain undefined and the endgame uncertain.

Netanyahu, while publicly endorsing ceasefire talks, says he is committed to the total dismantling of Hamas, a strategic ally of Iran. The Israeli prime minister wants the remaining Hamas leadership deported, possibly to Algeria -- a demand Hamas flatly rejects. The gap between a temporary pause and a lasting resolution remains wide, two Middle East officials say.

On Iran, Netanyahu was displeased to see Washington revive nuclear talks with Tehran expected in Norway this week, the first diplomatic overture since the strikes, said the person familiar with his thinking. He opposes any move that could give the Iranian authorities an economic and political lifeline.

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