Israel’s prime minister reportedly has confided to his inner circle that he can do little to influence President Trump’s policies regarding Iran.By World Israel News StaffPrime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has privately acknowledged that Israel has little leverage over President Donald Trump’s handling of negotiations with Iran, even as Jerusalem presses Washington to preserve Israel’s freedom to strike in Lebanon and insist on dismantling Iran’s nuclear infrastructure, Reuters reported Monday.The assessment, described to Reuters by two Israeli officials familiar with Netanyahu’s private conversations, reflects a widening gap between Israel’s war aims and the Trump administration’s immediate priority: reaching an initial arrangement that would reopen the Strait of Hormuz and stabilize the ceasefire in the nearly three-month-old war with Iran.According to Reuters, one Israeli official said Netanyahu has expressed concern about the memorandum of understanding now under discussion but recognizes that Israel “has no maneuver to influence the president right now.”Netanyahu’s office did not immediately comment on the report.The proposed first-stage deal would see Iran reopen the Strait of Hormuz in exchange for the US lifting its naval blockade, with nuclear issues left for a later round of talks, according to a senior Trump administration official cited by Reuters.The US and Iran have been negotiating indirectly through Pakistan.Iranian sources have said possible later formulas could include diluting Tehran’s highly enriched uranium under supervision of the UN nuclear watchdog.But that would fall short of Israel’s stated demand that Iran’s enriched uranium be removed from the country and that its enrichment sites be dismantled.Netanyahu tried to present a more aligned public front after speaking with Trump over the weekend, saying the two discussed “the memorandum of understanding to reopen the Strait of Hormuz and the upcoming negotiations toward a final agreement on Iran’s nuclear program.”He said they agreed that any final deal must include “dismantling Iran’s nuclear enrichment sites and removing its enriched nuclear material from its territory.”“President Trump and I agreed that any final agreement with Iran must eliminate the nuclear threat entirely,” Netanyahu said in a separate statement.“This means dismantling Iran’s uranium enrichment facilities and removing enriched nuclear material from its territory.”“My policy, like that of President Trump, remains unchanged: Iran will not obtain nuclear weapons.”The prime minister also said Trump had reaffirmed Israel’s right to defend itself “against threats on every front, including Lebanon.”That point has become one of the most sensitive Israeli demands, because Iran has pushed for a complete halt to Israeli military activity in southern Lebanon as part of any arrangement linked to the wider ceasefire.Israel and Hezbollah have continued trading fire despite an April 16 ceasefire reached after the US and Iran agreed to a broader truce. Israeli forces have remained deployed in parts of southern Lebanon, while the military has continued airstrikes against Hezbollah targets and the group has launched drones toward Israeli troops and northern communities.The strain between the public show of coordination and private Israeli concern was underscored by Trump’s own comments last week. Asked what he told Netanyahu during one of their recent calls, Trump said, “He’s a very good man, he’ll do whatever I want him to do.”Iran has also cautioned that an agreement is not imminent. Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmail Baghaei said it was accurate to say that “we have reached a conclusion on a large portion of the issues under discussion,” but added, “to say that this means the signing of an agreement is imminent – no one can make such a claim.”Baghaei said questions over the Strait of Hormuz should be handled by Iran and Oman and argued that Iran was seeking fees for navigational services, not tolls. He also said Lebanon must be included in the memorandum if Iran is to allow full commercial shipping through the strait and the US is to lift its blockade of Iranian ports.Secretary of State Marco Rubio, speaking in New Delhi, said there was a “pretty solid thing on the table” that could reopen the strait and lead to “a very real, significant, time-limited negotiation on the nuclear matter.” But he said Washington still preferred a negotiated outcome only if it was a good one.The post Netanyahu says he is losing influence over Trump on Iran – report appeared first on World Israel News.