Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu often tried to portray himself as President Donald Trump’s best friend, but the relationship wasn’t as easy as the Israeli Prime Minister portrayed it.
And recently, speculation has become inevitable across Israeli media that the relationship between the two leaders and the relationships between their respective countries is beginning to be clarified.
Some ideas for the gap were evident in Trump’s recent trip to the Middle East. He visited Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates, but Israel was usually the closest ally in the region in the United States.
Similarly, the two US negotiations between Iran and the Houthi rebels in Yemen, the enemies of Israel’s most intense regional, occur without clear opinions from Israel, which have always been seen as the centre of such issues. Finally, there was the decision by US Vice President JD Vance to cancel a planned visit to Israel on apparently “logistical” reasons against a choir of international condemnation of Israel’s actions in Gaza.
“Trump signalled Netanyahu, ‘Honey, I was there.” Israeli commentator Dana Fern Luson, who appeared on national television earlier this month.
“We see the complete breakdown of everything that benefits Israel,” said Mitchell Barak, an Israeli poller and former political aide to several Israeli politicians, including Netanyahu, who told Al Jazeera. “At one time, America was our closest ally. Now it doesn’t look like there are seats at the table. This should be concerning all of the Israelis.”
“Many Israelis condemn Netanyahu for this,” continued Barak. “He always presented Trump to him in his pocket. Netanyahu crossed the line.”
“I don’t have any good friends.”
While concerns about potential rifts within Israel may be growing, the US administration’s prominent voices underscore the strength of the alliance.
Last Sunday, President Trump’s envoy Steve Witkoff said that while he was keen to avoid what the US calls a “humanitarian crisis” in Gaza, he didn’t think there was “a sunlight between President Trump’s position and Prime Minister Netanyahu’s position.”
It was also James Hewitt, a spokesman for the White House National Security Council, who doubled the US commitment to Israel. James Hewitt rejected reports that the Trump administration was preparing to “waive” Israel if it continues its war with Gaza, telling Israeli media that “Israel had no better friends than President Trump.”
The Trump administration has also been actively working to close Israel’s criticism of the war on Gaza in public sector, particularly in US university campuses.
Several international students were also arrested and deported with Palestinian support. This included the arrests as he walked the streets outside Boston for a piece of opinion co-authored in the Student Newspaper, which Human Rights Watch described as “cold.”
Spit out
These policies have revealed that the Trump administration is sitting firmly on the corner of Israel. And when you look back at Trump’s policies in his first presidential term, that’s not surprising.
Trump realized many dreams of Israel’s rights in that term between 2017 and 2021, including the recognition of Jerusalem as the capital of Israel.
However, these actions partially condemn the bumpy relationship between Trump and Netanyahu, and the US president reportedly resents what he regarded as a lack of gratitude for those pro-Israel policies.
Trump was also furious after Netanyahu congratulated former US president Joe Biden after winning the 2020 election against President Trump.
“The first person to congratulate me (Biden) was Vivi (Benjamin) Netanyahu, more than any other person I dealt with. …Vivi may have been quiet.
Nevertheless, in the accumulation of the 2024 US election, Netanyahu and his allies actively courted candidates whom he believes are the best way to carry on their agenda and continue the war with Gaza, analysts said.
“Netanyahu really campaigned for Trump before the election, highlighting how bad Biden was,” said Yossi Mekelberg, a Chatham House associate fellow.
“Now they don’t know how Trump goes for so much contractually. He’s all about victory,” Mekelberg added, referring to the series of victories the president claimed on his recent Gulf Tour, “But we won’t beat Palestine.”
Throughout the Israeli press and media, Trump believes he is tired of trying to secure an end to the war with Gaza, where Netanyahu and his allies in Israel’s hard rights are not interested in pursuit.
Israeli Army Radio even reports that Trump has blocked direct contact from Netanyahu about concerns that the Israeli Prime Minister may be trying to manipulate him.
Yanir Kojin, an unknown Israeli official and reporter for Israeli Army Radio, wrote to X:
“Israel has a sense that Trump has turned Netanyahu on,” political analyst Nimrod Fraschenberg said from Tel Aviv. “Netanyahu supporters have previously thought Trump’s support was unlimited, which leads them to panic.”
What now?
The corruption of Netanyahu’s relationship with Trump may not mean an automatic break between Israel and the United States, Flachenberg warns, speculating that all factions across Israel’s political spectrum could retain their future under a reorganized relationship with the United States.
The US’s financial, military and diplomatic support for Israel has been the foundation of both countries’ foreign policies for decades, Mekelberg said. Moreover, whatever the current uncertainty about Trump’s relationship with Netanyahu, support for Israel remains embraced by many of his Republican bases, with analysts and polls being pointed out, particularly among Republican and Democratic donors.
“Netanyahu and those who oppose the war want the United States to apply a permanent ceasefire now,” Flachenberg said, referring to Israel’s dependence on US patronage. “It’s not because of great faith in Trump, but because of the increased degree of disappointment they have in the government today.”
But there are equally many such as Israeli Finance Minister Bezarel Smotrich and National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gwyr, who speculate that Israel would like to harness the direction of controlling US policy towards Israel.
“Ben Gwil, Smotrich and their supporters were able to take advantage of American indifference in any form,” Mekelberg told Al Jazeera. “If the US continues to provide weapons and diplomatic hideaways at the UN while on board (Israel), that’s their dream,” he said of Smotlich.
However, it is uncertain if Netanyahu could grasp this.
Both the accusations that Israel’s Prime Minister has taken office and relied on war to maintain the political coalition necessary to avoid legal calculations in corrupt trials, and the political calculations of the government’s failures ahead of the October 7, 2023 attacks are both widespread and long-standing.
“I don’t know if Netanyahu will be able to come back now,” Barak said. “There’s a lot of talk about Netanyahu being at the end of his line. I don’t know. They’ve said it for years. He’s still here.