Israel is growing increasingly concerned that President Donald Trump may ‘flip’ on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu amid a critical push for a U.S.-Iran peace agreement. This concern was highlighted after the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) struck Beirut for a second time, despite U.S. warnings that any strikes would derail a breakthrough with Tehran.
Background on the Conflict
The strikes came as Netanyahu prepared to convene Israel’s Security Cabinet and after Trump announced a new U.S.-Iran memorandum of understanding (MOU) was expected to be signed imminently. A diplomat involved in the talks with Tehran stated that the strikes were ‘a clear attempt by Israel to sabotage the president’s deal and drag the United States back into war.’ Trump condemned Israel’s strikes in a post on Truth Social, also telling Axios that Netanyahu had ‘no f—ing judgment.’
Natan Sachs, a senior fellow at the Middle East Institute, noted that there was ‘absolutely this fear in the Israeli government,’ calling it ‘a rational and healthy fear’ over the pending deal. He said a strategic chasm existed between the two allies, contrasting Netanyahu’s doctrine of sustained, long-term military pressure with Trump’s pursuit of immediate diplomatic victories.
Trump and Netanyahu’s Relationship
Sachs argued that tensions between Trump and Netanyahu reflect different temperaments. ‘Netanyahu thinks of himself as a strategic thinker — very able, and of course, he has a very high opinion of himself — but he is completely different,’ he observed. ‘Netanyahu is an erudite, well-educated, patient, highly suspicious and extremely pessimistic man by nature. His self-image is more, ‘I have thought everything through in ways you could not, because I’m smarter than you.’ Trump, on the other hand, likes quick wins and has a much narrower conception of what a deal would be.
Despite their differences, Trump and Netanyahu broadly share goals on curbing Iran’s nuclear ambitions, eliminating Hezbollah’s armed presence in Lebanon, and establishing a post-Hamas future for Gaza. However, Sachs noted that having a wish list is not the same as having a strategic goal, and that they haven’t both committed to them as strategic goals that dictate concerted action going forward.
Original reporting: Fox News (HLL/CB) — read the source article.
