Trump says Netanyahu ‘knows who the boss is,’ will meet with him as soon as next week

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu marked the 250th anniversary of U.S. Independence Day on Saturday with an English-language video message praising the United States as "the greatest force for liberty the modern world has known," as expectations grow that he will soon meet with U.S. President Donald Trump at the White House.

The message comes at a pivotal moment in U.S.-Israel relations, with the two leaders expected to meet in the coming days following recent tensions over U.S.-Iran diplomacy and the memorandum that ended active hostilities between the United States and Iran.

In his address, Netanyahu said America is "the greatest force for liberty the modern world has known," adding that the U.S.-Israel alliance is "built not only on shared interests, it’s built on shared values."

He also said that "freedom is never cheap. It must be continually purchased. It must be continually defended…when America and Israel stand together, freedom stands stronger."

"The tyrants we face chant, ‘Death to America, death to Israel.’ They think freedom is weak. They think democracies are weak. They’re wrong about our two democracies."

Netanyahu also reflected on Operation Yonatan, named after his brother, Yonatan Netanyahu, the only Israeli soldier killed during the 1976 rescue of hostages at Entebbe Airport in Uganda.

"Exactly 50 years ago, as America celebrated its bicentennial, Israel carried out one of the greatest hostage rescue missions in history," he said. "This is what the brave soldiers of Israel and America have done again and again in these 50 years. Together, with God’s help, freedom will triumph over tyranny."

Trump told Axios in an interview published on Saturday that he and Netanyahu "get along very good" and that the Israeli prime minister "knows who the boss is."

He added that Netanyahu had requested a White House meeting and that it would take place very soon, possibly as early as next week after Trump returns to Washington from the NATO summit in Turkey.

The expected meeting comes after a period of tension between the two leaders over the terms of the Memorandum of Understanding that ended active hostilities between the United States and Iran and launched ongoing negotiations that have so far produced uneven progress.

Israelis were surprised that the first of the MOU's 14 points called for an end to the fighting in Lebanon, even though neither Israel, Hezbollah nor Lebanon's internationally recognized government was a signatory to the agreement or involved in the negotiations that produced it.

Trump also said negotiations with Iran had been temporarily suspended to allow for the funeral of Iran's former Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, who was killed in U.S.-Israeli strikes on Feb. 28.

The funeral, scheduled to last three days, has drawn most of Iran's surviving political and military leadership, along with several newly promoted generals and senior clerical officials.

Three of Khamenei's sons have appeared publicly, though his eldest son, Mojtaba – widely believed to have succeeded him as supreme leader – has not been seen since reportedly being wounded in the strikes that killed his father and several senior Iranian officials and military officers.

"They are all there. One shot [and we can take them all out], but we are not going to do that because then we would have nobody to negotiate with," Trump said.

Netanyahu's office also released a statement on Friday summarizing a recent phone call between the two leaders, saying that "during their conversation, the prime minister said that the United States is a guarantor of global freedom and that Israel greatly values the close relationship between the two nations."