In Middle East, Trump Marginalizes Israel Without Helping Gaza
In Middle East, Trump marginalizes Israel without helping Gaza
As President Donald Trump’s Middle East sojourn drew to a close, a much-vaunted “grand bargain” bringing peace to a restive region was nowhere in sight. Instead, there were many little ones. Trump will emerge from his tour of Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates — three energy-rich Arab monarchies with deep influence in Washington — touting a string of trade and investment deals secured with his prodding. Lucrative agreements for U.S. weaponry, planes and AI chips were forged, while in multiple speeches Trump gushed over the success of these wealthy states ruled by absolutist royals.
In a trip that seemed more about business than geopolitics, Trump still paid lip service to his hopes for peace. He extended a hand to Iran, gesturing to potential future talks over its nuclear program. He announced a truce with Yemen’s Houthi rebels after authorizing a $1 billion bombing campaign that hasn’t dented the Houthis’ capacity to target Israel or Red Sea shipping. To the surprise of even some U.S. officials, he announced the cessation of sanctions on Syria, a critical move to boost the country’s fledgling, transitional regime. And he decried a legacy of U.S. interventionism in the region.
The signals he sent caused consternation in Israel. Ahead of Trump’s trip, Israeli media and officials were already pointing to the way Trump has bypassed Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, a right-wing leader closely allied to the U.S. president who received numerous political gifts from the White House in Trump’s first term.
But in his second term, Trump’s vision for the Middle East is not as yoked to that of Netanyahu. The Israeli leader couldn’t have been pleased with Trump’s overtures to Tehran, his unilateral truce with the Houthis and his opening with Syria, which Israel has relentlessly bombed over recent months. Trump invoked the Abraham Accords — the agreements establishing formal ties between Israel and a clutch of Arab states — but the pacts seemed less of a centerpiece of his efforts this week. For Israel, the prospect of normalization seemed to shift to that of marginalization.
UAE President Mohamed bin Zayed al-Nahyan presents the Order of Zayed Medal to President Donald Trump during an official reception in Abu Dhabi on Thursday. (UAE Presidential Court/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock)
UAE President Mohamed bin Zayed al-Nahyan presents the Order of Zayed Medal to President Donald Trump during an official reception in Abu Dhabi on Thursday. (UAE Presidential Court/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock)
All the while, Israeli forces pounded the embattled Gaza Strip. Bombardments on alleged Hamas militant targets led to dozens of civilian deaths in the past few days. On Thursday alone, local groups said Israeli attacks killed more than 100 people. The director of a hospital in northern Gaza told my colleagues of one incident where they received the bodies of 20 children killed Wednesday. Humanitarian conditions remain dire, with 1 in 5 people in the territory facing starvation amid a months-long Israeli blockade.
Earlier in the week, Netanyahu declared that there was “no way” Israel would halt its war in Gaza, vowing to “complete the mission” and fully eradicate Hamas. The messaging undercut attempts in Doha, Qatar, to restart peace talks between the warring parties. Netanyahu was once more rebuked by the families of hostages held in Hamas captivity who fear the prime minister is prioritizing his political interests and alliance with the Israeli far right over the plight of Israelis still trapped in Gaza.
On Monday, Trump hailed the release of Israeli American Edan Alexander — the last U.S. citizen abducted by Hamas to be freed — and indicated on social media that the decision to return him to Israel was a “step taken in good faith” by Hamas. Implicit in the White House’s messaging was an impatience with Netanyahu, who many see as an impediment to attempts to forge a lasting ceasefire. Some of Netanyahu’s far-right allies have made clear their desire to remove much of the territory’s Palestinian population and occupy it indefinitely.
Trump hasn’t relinquished his strange plan to takeover and redevelop Gaza himself. “Gaza has been a territory of death and destruction for many years,” Trump told reporters. “I have concepts for Gaza that I think are very good — make it a freedom zone. Let the United States get involved and make it just a freedom zone.”
Whatever comes of that, there’s daylight slipping between Trump and Netanyahu. “For Netanyahu, who used to have his settler allies drive policy in Trump’s first term, Trump 2.0 must present a shock,” Ilan Goldenberg, senior vice president and chief policy officer at J Street, a liberal pro-Israel organization in Washington, wrote in an email memo. “As for Trump, his friends in the Gulf are showering him with deals and wins — when he looks at Benjamin Netanyahu’s and [far-right leader] Itamar Ben Gvir’s Israel he sees only headaches.” That includes an “endless war” in Gaza, Israeli political leadership “bent on sabotaging Iran talks,” and an Israel that doesn’t seem ready to make the political concessions that would be needed before it can further integrate into the region.
Trump’s transactionalism and eagerness to play the peacemaker cuts against Netanyahu’s own agenda. “What you’re seeing is that President Trump has an idea of what is in our interest, and that comes first,” Dennis Ross, a veteran former U.S. diplomat and Middle East envoy, told my colleague Gerry Shih. “He defines the nature of our interests abroad not through a geopolitical or security context, but an economic, financial and trade frame. I think President Trump might have the view that ‘We give them $4 billion a year in military assistance. I do plenty to support the Israelis.’”
In Israel, analysts view the signals emerging from Trump’s trip with alarm. “In Trump’s worldview, Israel is not necessarily a strategic ally in the deep, classic and values-based sense, but more of a ‘premium client,’ perhaps even a Middle Eastern ‘real estate asset,’” wrote Oded Ailam, a former top Israeli intelligence official, in Israel Hayom, a popular daily.
“We must consider the deep changes that are underway within the Republican Party itself and within Trump’s inner circle,” he added, gesturing to the sidelining of neoconservatives and Iran hawks in Trump’s team. “Israel must recognize that Trump in 2025 is a different political creature, and the Republican Party is no longer what it once was.”
In Middle East, Trump Marginalizes Israel Without Helping Gaza
In Middle East, Trump marginalizes Israel without helping Gaza
As President Donald Trump’s Middle East sojourn drew to a close, a much-vaunted “grand bargain” bringing peace to a restive region was nowhere in sight. Instead, there were many little ones. Trump will emerge from his tour of Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates — three energy-rich Arab monarchies with deep influence in Washington — touting a string of trade and investment deals secured with his prodding. Lucrative agreements for U.S. weaponry, planes and AI chips were forged, while in multiple speeches Trump gushed over the success of these wealthy states ruled by absolutist royals.
In a trip that seemed more about business than geopolitics, Trump still paid lip service to his hopes for peace. He extended a hand to Iran, gesturing to potential future talks over its nuclear program. He announced a truce with Yemen’s Houthi rebels after authorizing a $1 billion bombing campaign that hasn’t dented the Houthis’ capacity to target Israel or Red Sea shipping. To the surprise of even some U.S. officials, he announced the cessation of sanctions on Syria, a critical move to boost the country’s fledgling, transitional regime. And he decried a legacy of U.S. interventionism in the region.
The signals he sent caused consternation in Israel. Ahead of Trump’s trip, Israeli media and officials were already pointing to the way Trump has bypassed Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, a right-wing leader closely allied to the U.S. president who received numerous political gifts from the White House in Trump’s first term.
But in his second term, Trump’s vision for the Middle East is not as yoked to that of Netanyahu. The Israeli leader couldn’t have been pleased with Trump’s overtures to Tehran, his unilateral truce with the Houthis and his opening with Syria, which Israel has relentlessly bombed over recent months. Trump invoked the Abraham Accords — the agreements establishing formal ties between Israel and a clutch of Arab states — but the pacts seemed less of a centerpiece of his efforts this week. For Israel, the prospect of normalization seemed to shift to that of marginalization.
UAE President Mohamed bin Zayed al-Nahyan presents the Order of Zayed Medal to President Donald Trump during an official reception in Abu Dhabi on Thursday. (UAE Presidential Court/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock)
UAE President Mohamed bin Zayed al-Nahyan presents the Order of Zayed Medal to President Donald Trump during an official reception in Abu Dhabi on Thursday. (UAE Presidential Court/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock)
All the while, Israeli forces pounded the embattled Gaza Strip. Bombardments on alleged Hamas militant targets led to dozens of civilian deaths in the past few days. On Thursday alone, local groups said Israeli attacks killed more than 100 people. The director of a hospital in northern Gaza told my colleagues of one incident where they received the bodies of 20 children killed Wednesday. Humanitarian conditions remain dire, with 1 in 5 people in the territory facing starvation amid a months-long Israeli blockade.
Earlier in the week, Netanyahu declared that there was “no way” Israel would halt its war in Gaza, vowing to “complete the mission” and fully eradicate Hamas. The messaging undercut attempts in Doha, Qatar, to restart peace talks between the warring parties. Netanyahu was once more rebuked by the families of hostages held in Hamas captivity who fear the prime minister is prioritizing his political interests and alliance with the Israeli far right over the plight of Israelis still trapped in Gaza.
On Monday, Trump hailed the release of Israeli American Edan Alexander — the last U.S. citizen abducted by Hamas to be freed — and indicated on social media that the decision to return him to Israel was a “step taken in good faith” by Hamas. Implicit in the White House’s messaging was an impatience with Netanyahu, who many see as an impediment to attempts to forge a lasting ceasefire. Some of Netanyahu’s far-right allies have made clear their desire to remove much of the territory’s Palestinian population and occupy it indefinitely.
Trump hasn’t relinquished his strange plan to takeover and redevelop Gaza himself. “Gaza has been a territory of death and destruction for many years,” Trump told reporters. “I have concepts for Gaza that I think are very good — make it a freedom zone. Let the United States get involved and make it just a freedom zone.”
Whatever comes of that, there’s daylight slipping between Trump and Netanyahu. “For Netanyahu, who used to have his settler allies drive policy in Trump’s first term, Trump 2.0 must present a shock,” Ilan Goldenberg, senior vice president and chief policy officer at J Street, a liberal pro-Israel organization in Washington, wrote in an email memo. “As for Trump, his friends in the Gulf are showering him with deals and wins — when he looks at Benjamin Netanyahu’s and [far-right leader] Itamar Ben Gvir’s Israel he sees only headaches.” That includes an “endless war” in Gaza, Israeli political leadership “bent on sabotaging Iran talks,” and an Israel that doesn’t seem ready to make the political concessions that would be needed before it can further integrate into the region.
Trump’s transactionalism and eagerness to play the peacemaker cuts against Netanyahu’s own agenda. “What you’re seeing is that President Trump has an idea of what is in our interest, and that comes first,” Dennis Ross, a veteran former U.S. diplomat and Middle East envoy, told my colleague Gerry Shih. “He defines the nature of our interests abroad not through a geopolitical or security context, but an economic, financial and trade frame. I think President Trump might have the view that ‘We give them $4 billion a year in military assistance. I do plenty to support the Israelis.’”
In Israel, analysts view the signals emerging from Trump’s trip with alarm. “In Trump’s worldview, Israel is not necessarily a strategic ally in the deep, classic and values-based sense, but more of a ‘premium client,’ perhaps even a Middle Eastern ‘real estate asset,’” wrote Oded Ailam, a former top Israeli intelligence official, in Israel Hayom, a popular daily.
“We must consider the deep changes that are underway within the Republican Party itself and within Trump’s inner circle,” he added, gesturing to the sidelining of neoconservatives and Iran hawks in Trump’s team. “Israel must recognize that Trump in 2025 is a different political creature, and the Republican Party is no longer what it once was.”