ANALYSIS: The White House meeting was clearly less than met the public eye. The two put on a pretty convincing show. Supposed failure masked a strategic subtext: “We tried everything” — before the bombs fall.

By all public accounts, Prime Minister Netanyahu’s visit to the White House was a bust. “Three strikes and you’re out,” riffed the anti-Bibi Times of Israel. No breakthrough on the tariffs crippling Israeli exports. No big public show of alignment or strategy. Just a stiff photo op, a sanctimonious lecture on U.S. military aid, and an ambiguous announcement about “direct” talks with Hamas — which turned out to mean indirect via Egypt and Qatar. Even Netanyahu loyalists struggled to spin it.

But was it really a diplomatic failure? Or was it political theater?

Let’s be clear: No serious Israeli official expected a tailored tariff rollback. The Biden administration is embroiled in a global economic chess match with China and Europe; unilaterally lowering trade barriers for Israel would have been political suicide — and Bibi knows it. Even raising the issue publicly was eyebrow-raising. It wasn’t a real ask; it was a calculated feint. A move designed not to succeed, but to signal.

Why? Because what Israel needs now isn’t a U.S. trade concession. It needs international legitimacy — or at least plausible deniability — before launching a major escalation in Gaza or Lebanon. Biden’s diplomatic overtures have hemmed Israel in since October 7. Every time Israel tries to finish the job against Hamas, Washington insists on “restraint” and “humanitarian corridors.” But patience is wearing thin.

The optics of the White House meeting were perfectly engineered for the history books: Netanyahu showing up in good faith, discussing alternatives, seeking relief, exploring diplomacy. Biden offering nothing, talking down to a wartime ally, and pushing for talks with terrorists. When the next phase of the war begins — and it will — Jerusalem will say with credibility: We tried. We asked. We begged. We exhausted every channel.

This was a choreographed failure, a final act in the playbook titled “Justify the Unavoidable.” Every seasoned analyst sees the buildup: the positioning of long-range Israeli assets, the sudden uptick in U.S. Navy logistics movements, and the quiet Gulf chatter about airspace deconfliction. Something is coming. And when it does, this meeting will be cited as the last ditch — a box checked for the international community, especially Europe, which still clings to fantasies of diplomatic resolution.

In short: the meeting wasn’t for the present. It was for the future narrative.

Netanyahu knew he wasn’t getting tariffs lifted. He didn’t fly to Washington for a minor economic win. He flew to build a case — for his people, for the Diaspora, and for the next day’s headlines after Israeli jets level new coordinates in Gaza, or worse, Beirut.

“Disappointing” was the goal. Because disappointment implies effort. And effort gives you cover.

In war, truth is the first casualty. But timing never lies. B-2s and F-35is and THAAD don’t fly themselves.

Watch the skies.