(LifeSiteNews) — Multiple media outlets reported that there are serious frictions emerging between Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
In April, Trump welcomed the embattled leader to the White House. During a press conference in the Oval Office, he described Netanyahu as a “special” person.
The warm feelings seem to have subsided, especially after Trump fired National Security Adviser Mike Waltz, allegedly because he was working with Netanyahu to bully Trump into attacking Iran.
Trump is “frustrated” with Netanyahu, Jewish outlet Israel Hayom reported, citing two “senior sources close to the president.”
The apparent fallout also seems to stem from the president’s dissatisfaction with the ongoing peace efforts in Gaza that continue to stall due to Netanyahu’s seemingly purposeful intransigence.
Trump’s deal with Iran is also a sticking point. Trump has reportedly grown tired of the pressure campaign Netanyahu has been putting on him, so he has opted for bilateral talks directly in an effort to decouple the U.S.’s interests from Israel’s.
Even arch-Zionist Mike Huckabee, Trump’s ambassador to Israel, has said the U.S. “isn’t required to get permission from Israel to make some type of arrangement that would get the Houthis from firing on our ships.”
While Trump has certainly made some over the top comments about blowing Iran “to smithereens” if it doesn’t come to an agreement, he also has said he wants Iran to be “very successful.”
Trump is making a trip to the Middle East this week. A visit to Israel has not been scheduled. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth canceled a planned stop there, according to reports.
Rumors are also circulating that Trump might recognize Palestine as an independent state, a nightmare scenario for the Zionist lobby.
“There is a dawning realization in official Israeli circles that President Donald Trump may not be quite the pushover that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government had assumed,” wrote Dan Perry, an opinion columnist for the Jewish Forward newspaper.
“He’s skipping Israel on the first Middle Eastern visit of his new presidency and has reportedly stepped back from his once-close relationship with his Israeli counterpart.”
Others have expressed the same outlook.
“It’s clear Trump will take some big decisions unilaterally without significant consideration of Israeli interests when he wants to, like on Iran or Yemen,” Michael Wahid Hanna, director of the U.S. program at International Crisis Group, recently told Middle East Eye.
Will Trump continue to forge a true American-first foreign policy or will the likely coming media smears and pressure from groups like the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) force him to reconsider his priorities to ensure Israel’s demands are placed before America’s needs? One can only hope he chooses the former.
