May 09, 2025
Over the last weeks U.S. President Donald Trump has broken links between U.S. foreign policy issues in the Middle East and considerations for Israel's interest.
Last month the prime minister of the 'Zionist entity' Benjamin Mileikowsky Netanyahoo visited Washington DC to push Trump towards bombing Iran's nuclear installations. Trump instead announced new talks with Iran. Netanyahoo's attempt had failed:
U.S. President Donald Trump blindsided Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu last month with a gamble on immediately opening negotiations with Iran.
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The pivot to negotiations with Iran in April was a shock for Netanyahu, who had flown to Washington seeking Trump's backing for military strikes on Iran’s nuclear facilities and learned less than 24 hours before a joint White House press event that U.S. talks with Iran were starting within days, four sources familiar with the matter told Reuters.
Next came the Trump pivot on Yemen about which Netanyahoo had not been informed:
Barak Ravid, a political analyst for the Zionist media outlet ‘Walla’, said that Trump's agreement with Yemen has severely constrained Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu and Ron Dermer, a close advisor to Netanyahu.Pointing out that Trump has bypassed the Zionist regime by reaching an agreement on a ceasefire with Yemen's Ansarallah, he stated it seems that Israel's ability to influence the US-Iran negotiations to reach a new nuclear agreement has so far been very restricted.
The senior Israeli official said that he knew nothing about Trump's decision. “Trump surprised us," he added.
US President Donald Trump said on Tuesday evening during a meeting with Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney in the White House that Yemen's Ansarullah announced that they will no longer fight against the United States, and the United States will also stop its attacks on Yemen.
Today we learn that the U.S. is willing to help Saudi Arabia with a civil nuclear program without requiring Saudi normalization with Israel:
The United States is no longer demanding Saudi Arabia normalise ties with Israel as a condition for progress on civil nuclear cooperation talks, two sources with knowledge of the matter told Reuters ahead of U.S. President Donald Trump's visit next week.Dropping the demand that Saudi Arabia establish diplomatic relations with Israel would be a major concession by Washington. Under former President Joe Biden, nuclear talks were an element of a wider U.S.-Saudi deal tied to normalisation and to Riyadh's goal of a defence treaty with Washington.
The change in policies towards Iran, Yemen and Saudi Arabia were surprising. The Israelis clearly expected to have a veto, or at least a say, in all three issues.
This is a fundamental change in U.S. policy. It is not conceivable that a president Joe Biden or Kamala Harris would have shunned Netanyahoo on three of such important issues.
The change comes while Trump fired his national security advisor Mike Waltz for having too 'intensive contacts' with Natanyahoo's office. He had also called off strikes against Iran which Israel and Waltz had been planning.
Netanyahoo's manipulative behavior is likely the reason for these changes:
US President Donald Trump has decided to cut off direct contact with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, a report said Thursday.Yanir Cozin, a correspondent for Israeli Army Radio, said in a post on his X account that Trump made the decision after close associates told Israeli Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer that the president believes that Netanyahu is manipulating him.
An Israeli official added that Dermer’s tone during recent discussions with senior Republican figures about what Trump should do was seen as arrogant and unhelpful.
The official said that people around Trump told him that "Netanyahu was manipulating him."
"There is nothing Trump hates more than being portrayed as a fool or someone being played. That’s why he decided to cut contact with Netanyahu," the official added.
Yesterday Ron Dermer visited the White House:
President Trump met Israeli Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer, a close confidant of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, on Thursday and discussed the nuclear talks with Iran and the war in Gaza, according to two sources briefed on the meeting.
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Dermer met Wednesday with Secretary of State Marco Rubio and expressed the Israeli concerns, a source with knowledge said.On Thursday Dermer had several meetings in the White House including one with Trump. Vice President Vance, Rubio and White House envoy Steve Witkoff also attended the meeting, according to one source. White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt confirmed Trump met Dermer and said it was a "private meeting."
The following report is likely based on those talks:
US President Donald Trump is disappointed with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Israel Hayom reports, citing two “senior sources close to the president.”According to the Hebrew-language daily, in closed-door conversations Trump said he was going to make progress on his objectives in the Middle East without waiting for Israel.
On a deal with Saudi Arabia, Trump wants Israel to be a central part of an agreement, but “Netanyahu is delaying making the necessary decisions,” writes Israel Hayom’s Ariel Kahana, who interviewed Trump at Mar-A-Lago last year.
Trump is also still upset with Netanyahu and his circle over what he sees as an attempt to push the White House into military action against Iran’s nuclear program, say the sources.
It is not clear how far the apparent break between Israel's wishes and Trump's policies will go.
Dimitri Lascaris @dimitrilascaris - 7:21 AM · May 9, 2025When Biden was in office, the Western and Israeli media reported over and over again that Biden was ‘frustrated’ with Netanyahu, but Biden continued to arm Israel to the teeth and took no concrete action to end the genocide.
We’re now being treated to this same Kabuki theatre by the Trump administration.
I am more optimistic on this. Even while Biden was claiming to be frustrated by Netanyahoo he did not change U.S. foreign policy to a less Israel friendly direction.
Trump has now done so on three occasions. This may thus well be much more than political theater.
We can only hope that he will use this new freedom to press for an end of the war on Palestine.
There are signs that it is happening:
NEW: Trump May Announce Gaza Deal With Minimal Israeli Input, Says Israeli ReportA new report from Israel Hayom says U.S. President Donald Trump may unveil a sweeping Gaza agreement by the end of this week—one developed with deep American involvement but only partial Israeli participation. The deal is said to include provisions for ending the war, rebuilding Gaza, and redefining control of the Strip—potentially over Israel’s objections. ...
Posted by b on May 9, 2025 at 7:14 UTC | Permalink