TEL AVIV — As direct talks between Israel and Lebanon begin on Tuesday in Washington, Israeli officials are questioning Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s decision to reject a ceasefire on the northern front, despite pressure from the Trump administration and a change of rhetoric in Beirut leading up to the first direct talks in decades.

The talks in Washington will be hosted by US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, US Ambassador to Lebanon Michel Issa and State Department counselor Mike Needham. The Lebanese ambassador to Washington, Nada Hamadeh and her Israeli counterpart, Yechiel Leiter, are representing their countries. 

According to several Israeli sources, the most recent phone call between Trump and Netanyahu on April 7— after which Netanyahu announced last week that Israel had agreed to historic direct negotiations with Lebanon — was somewhat tense.

"There was a real atmosphere of crisis on our side," an Israeli political source told Al-Monitor on condition of anonymity. "Netanyahu's decision to enter the negotiations, which he vehemently rejected in recent months, was necessary. It also eases heavy international pressure on Israel and accusations that it is responsible for the failure of US-Iran contacts due to its stubborn insistence on continuing the war in Lebanon."