Trump and Netanyahu hold tense call over revised Iran peace memo drafted by Qatar and Pakistan

U.S. President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu held a tense phone call on Tuesday, May 19, 2026, to discuss a revised peace memo drafted by Qatar and Pakistan aimed at ending the war against Iran, three sources told Axios.

One of the three sources said Netanyahu's "hair was on fire" after the call. Netanyahu is seeking to resume hostilities against Iran in a war that has been paused since early April under a ceasefire that Trump subsequently extended indefinitely.

Trump said Wednesday that talks aimed at ending the war are in their "final stages." Speaking to reporters at Joint Base Andrews, Trump said: "We're going to give this one shot. I'm in no hurry." He added: "I just, ideally, I'd like to see few people killed, as opposed to a lot."

Trump downplayed any division with Netanyahu, saying: "He will do whatever I want him to do. He's a very, very good man." At the U.S. Coast Guard Academy, Trump said: "The only question is, do we go and finish it up, or are they going to be signing a document? Let's see what happens." He later said the war could resume "very quickly" if "we don't get the right answer."

Pakistan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, and Egypt are serving as mediators on the proposal. According to two Arab officials and an Israeli source, Qatar recently presented the U.S. and Iran with a new draft. Iran's foreign ministry said Wednesday that negotiations were ongoing "based on Iran's 14-point proposal," and that Pakistan's interior minister was in Tehran for a second visit in less than a week to help the mediation.

A U.S. source briefed on the call said Trump told Netanyahu that the mediators were working on a "letter of intent" for a 30-day negotiation period that both the U.S. and Iran would sign to formally end the war and launch talks on issues including Iran's nuclear program and the opening of the Strait of Hormuz. An Israeli source said Netanyahu wants to come to Washington in the coming weeks for a meeting with Trump.