Trump’s Snubs Have Israel Worried It’s Not Just About Netanyahu
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has described U.S. President Donald Trump as the best friend Israel has ever had in the White House, a characterization Trump himself has echoed as well. But as Trump tours the wealthy Gulf state monarchies this week, Israelis are watching from just a few hundred miles away, wondering exactly how much they should worry about their relationship with the U.S. president.
What used to be a lovefest has turned chilly, making Israelis nervous about what’s behind the change and what it presages. Has Trump simply had enough of Netanyahu, as have most Israelis, or is he turning away from Israel?
Is the shift a question of personalities, or is it the product of an ideological battle within the Trump administration, pitting isolationist MAGA figures who are skeptical of U.S. support for Israel against hawkish ones who believe Israel is a key ally whose strength also benefits the United States?
Or, worse yet, was Trump’s affinity for Israel always a ploy for political benefit, rather than a deeply held conviction?
While the answers to those question remain unclear, that something has in fact changed is beyond doubt.
It’s not just that Trump is touring the Middle East and skipping Israel, Washington’s closest ally in the region. It’s much more than that. A series of decisions and events over the past few weeks have raised anxiety in Israel and unease among Israeli supporters in other countries.
The number of strategic and tactical disagreements between Netanyahu and Trump on multiple fronts has grown so much that Netanyahu recently told a parliamentary security committee that it’s time for Israel to “wean” itself from its reliance on U.S. military aid.
The war in Gaza, and how much Israel should concede to Hamas in exchange for the hostages still held there, is one area of divergence. Netanyahu wants to continue fighting until Hamas is destroyed. Trump is pushing for an end to the war.
Is the issue the relationship between Trump and Netanyahu? Or has Trump’s commitment to Israel’s defense waned?
But their differences extend beyond Gaza. On May 6, for instance, barely 48 hours after Yemen’s Houthi rebels nearly hit Israel’s main airport with a ballistic missile, Trump announced a deal with the Iran-backed group to stop the U.S. bombing campaign he had vowed to continue until it was crushed. The Houthis, he explained, had agreed to stop targeting U.S. ships, which was enough for him. That the group reiterated its intention to continue attacking Israel as long as the war in Gaza continues, Trump indicated, was not his concern.
The deal raised red flags in Israel, where it was perceived as an abandonment. But the new U.S. ambassador there, Mike Huckabee, shot back, saying Washington is “not required to get permission” from Israel to make a deal with the Houthis.
A month earlier, on April 7, just after Trump announced his controversial across-the-board tariffs and global trade war, Netanyahu traveled to the White House hoping to secure an exemption for Israel. Instead, the Oval Office meeting turned into a humiliating one for the Israeli leader. Not only did Trump not lift the tariffs, but he took the opportunity to announce the start of negotiations with Iran over its nuclear program, taking Netanyahu by surprise.
The question of Iran’s nuclear program is viewed by Israelis as an existential one. Netanyahu and many Israelis had hoped that Trump would be the U.S. president who would finally greenlight a military operation against the Iranian regime’s nuclear facilities. Instead, Washington’s negotiations with Tehran are moving forward. At one point, U.S. negotiator Steve Witkoff—Trump’s longtime friend who, despite having no diplomatic experience, now handles a vast portfolio of difficult assignments—even said the U.S. would allow Iran to maintain low-level uranium enrichment capabilities for civilian uses, long an Israeli red line.
Though Witkoff later retracted the statement, it was yet another cause for concern in Israel, especially as Iran insists that the Trump administration’s public statements are different from what it is saying in the closed-door talks. Adding to the dismay in Israel, one of the Trump administration’s most hawkish members, Mike Waltz, was removed from his post of national security adviser, reportedly because he had coordinated with Netanyahu to try to persuade Trump to take the military path on Iran.
The series of snubs was capped by Trump’s decision to skip Israel on his visit to the region this week, forcing Huckabee to soften his own rhetoric to ease Israeli angst. Huckabee made the rounds of Israeli TV shows ahead of Trump’s trip, telling Israelis, “Relax, calm down. Donald Trump loves you.”
But Israelis are not so sure anymore. The journalist Barak Ravid spoke of “trust problems” between Netanyahu and Trump. Analyst Dana Fahn Luzon said Trump’s message to Netanyahu is, “Honey, I’ve had enough of you.”
But the question remained, is the issue the relationship between two leaders? Or has Trump’s commitment to Israel’s defense waned?
Analyst Amit Segal wrote on X that the message to the region from Trump’s truce with the Houthis is, “attack Israel, just leave us Americans alone.” Segal added, “If I were Iranian, that’s how I’d interpret it.”
And now, as Trump travels in the Middle East, there are reports that he has given up on one of the goals that is of great importance not only for Netanyahu but for all Israelis: securing diplomatic relations between Israel and the world’s most important Arab Muslim state, Saudi Arabia.
Netanyahu would like to be the leader under whom Saudi Arabia and Israel establish formal relations, cementing Israel’s acceptance in the region, something it has aspired to since its founding in 1948. The goal is a high priority for the prime minister, but that’s because he knows how important it is for the entire country.
During Trump’s first term as well as during former President Joe Biden’s four years in office, the U.S. had made the establishment of ties between Saudi Arabia and Israel a condition for an expanded military pact between Riyadh and Washington, as well as for U.S. assistance in setting up a civilian nuclear program in the kingdom. But Saudi Arabia says it won’t normalize relations unless Israel outlines a path to a Palestinian state, something Netanyahu and his far-right coalition refuse to do. Now Trump has reportedly dropped the requirement that the Saudis diplomatically recognize Israel, delinking the issue from U.S. security ties with Riyadh.
As if to illustrate the degree of disconnect between the two sides, on Monday, Hamas freed Israeli-American hostage Edan Alexander after direct negotiations with the White House on which Trump didn’t even consult Netanyahu’s government. As opposition leader Yair Lapid rejoiced in Alexander’s liberation, he took a moment to also lambaste the prime minister, saying “Americans are fed up with Netanyahu.”
Since then, Israeli observers have been left to wonder what the Trump administration might have offered Hamas in exchange for freeing Alexander. They are also considering the implications for Israel of Trump’s surprise announcement that the U.S. will lift sanctions on Syria and recognize the government of interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa, an Islamist rebel leader who was affiliated with al-Qaida.
As Trump wraps up his tour of wealthy Gulf states, there may still be more surprises in store. Regardless, long after Trump has returned to Washington, Israelis will be pondering if he is only snubbing their prime minister, or if he has become less interested in their security.
Frida Ghitis is WPR’s senior columnist and a contributor to CNN and The Washington Post. Her WPR column appears every Thursday. You can follow her on Twitter and Threads at @fridaghitis.