Itamar Rabinovich, who previously served as Israel’s ambassador to the United States during the Clinton administration and is currently a senior fellow at the Center for Middle East Policy at the Brookings Institution, told JNS that, “In terms of atmospherics, Netanyahu had an excellent visit.” Rabinovich said that, “Trump went out of his way to display good will and cordiality” adding that “it seems that the president is seeking to help a beleaguered Netanyahu.”

That mounting political pressure on Netanyahu was brought to the fore at the AIPAC convention, when the leader of the opposition Labor Party, Avi Gabbay, appeared to officially announce his candidacy for the Israeli premiership in his speech. Gabbay also subtly referred to Netanyahu’s legal woes when he told the audience: “we are better than some of the news coming out of Israel today.”

According to Makovsky, because of this talk of early elections, “There might be a tactical advantage for Netanyahu to convince Trump to release the peace process plans.”

“It could be,” Makovsky surmised, “that if Trump wants to help Netanyahu in early elections, he might ask him, ‘Will a peace plan help you or hurt you?’ After Israel’s 70th birthday celebrations and the US embassy move in May, Netanyahu might see it as an advantage to go to early elections.”

But it’s a two-way street, many say — and Trump is a businessman so if he offers to help Netanyahu, he expects something in return.

Daniel Pipes, president of the Middle East Forum, told JNS: “I see Prime Minister Netanyahu engaged in a grand campaign, both public and private, to keep the volatile American president pleased with Israel and cooperative with such priorities as Jerusalem, the Palestinians, Syria and Iran. His address to AIPAC, mixing admiration with subtle pressure, was another element in that campaign.”

“The real question,” according to Rabinovich, “concerns the substance of the actual discussion between the two leaders. Israel’s most urgent problem is the Iranian military build-up in Syria. Iran collaborates closely with Russia, and in order to counter that axis Israel needs US help.”

Commenting on the fact that Trump and Netanyahu discussed how to deal with Iran, Makovsky said: “Netanyahu clearly wanted to touch base with Trump two months before the consultations with the Europeans over new sanctions on Iran, to hear what the US says about that.”

According to Rabinovich: “Trump has defined containing Iran as a major US policy interest goal, but so far has done little in this regard. The long term significance of the visit will be determined by the progress, or lack thereof, in this regard.”

“Under a darkening cloud,” said Rabinovich, “one of Netanyahu’s main assets with the Israeli public is his ability to argue that he is very effective in improving an already close relationship with the US.”