President Donald J. Trump and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel at the United Nations General Assembly (Official White House Photo by Shealah Craighead)
There have been a number of signs lately that President Donald Trump isn’t so happy with Israel, and more specifically with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. In The Spectator, Jacob Heilbrunn discusses Trump’s new approach to Israel, writing:
When Donald Trump won the 2024 election, the first foreign leaders to congratulate him were Israeli officials. Now, as he embarks upon his first overseas trip, Trump is visiting Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates – and forgoing a stop in Israel. It increasingly seems apparent that Trump is pursuing an American First foreign policy that treats Israel not as a vital ally but a nettlesome supplicant. In pursuing this course, he is returning to an older Republican foreign affairs tradition that has seen a variety of presidents, from Dwight D. Eisenhower to George H.W. Bush, treat Israel with skepticism, if not antipathy.
For Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, this turn of events comes as a rude surprise. Netanyahu sought to undermine former President Joe Biden at every turn and welcomed Trump’s return, visiting Mar-a-Lago in December together with his wife Sara and boasting of his “very good relationship” with Trump. In early February Netanyahu visited Trump in the Oval Office to discuss the Gaza strip and Iran. There early signs of an emerging rift between Trump and Netanyahu became evident. To Netanyahu’s surprise, Trump announced, “We’re having direct talks with Iran.” In addition, Trump floated his plan for American suzerainty over the Gaza strip, proclaiming he would transform the area into an economic mecca.
Since then, Trump has only proven more unpredictable, at least in the eyes of his Israeli interlocutors. The purge of his national security adviser Mike Waltz, together with much of his staff, has ensured that the more hawkish figures – often referred to as “neocons” by MAGA adherents – who clambered on board the Trump express have been rudely tossed aside. The result is the rise of advisers who style themselves as champions of “realism and restraint” by which they mean no more misbegotten wars in the Middle East.
The Trump administration negotiated the release of the last remaining American hostage being held by Hamas without Israel’s involvement. President Trump posted on Truth about the release, acknowledging Egypt and Qatar but not Israel.
On the first day of his trip to the Middle East, President Trump has already announced a $142 billion weapons deal with the Saudis and a $600 billion investment commitment from the Kingdom.
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