Now America’s Relationship With Israel Is Really in Trouble
Donald Trump is dissing Benjamin Netanyahu not for the greater cause of Zionism, but for himself.
Out of my way now.
Photographer: Mandel Ngan/AFP via Getty Images
This is a bad week for Israel, and by all appearances that’s just fine with the US president. Like the former reality TV star that he is, Donald Trump has choreographed several plot lines to send a single message: He will do whatever he thinks will redound to his own glory, even if that means freezing out Benjamin Netanyahu.
It’s hardly a coincidence that Hamas, the terrorist organization that Israel has been pounding in the Gaza Strip since October 2023, released its last living hostage bearing a US passport just as Trump set off to the Middle East on a trip that includes three Arab countries but conspicuously omits Israel. In March, his administration had rejected a similar offer from Hamas, deferring to the Israeli fear of being cut out of the negotiations and disadvantaging the two dozen other hostages still believed to be alive. This time, the US didn’t care.