Israel fears to be left out while Trump concludes agreements in the Middle East

As US President Donald Trump from one sprawling palace to anotherKissing the Arab leaders and announcing a new Middle East this week, many in Israel feared that the best partner they ever had in the White House was not interested.

For decades, Israel has exploited its special relationship with the United States to serve as a goalkeeper in Washington. Of the David Camp Treaty with Egypt to Abraham agreements Brocked by Trump during his first mandate, the Arab states that seek us the favor should generally be done well with Israel. And rarely their interests have prevailed if they clashed with that of Israel.

But Wednesday, the dismay of Israel, Saudi Arabia and Turkey negotiated A historic meeting Between the new president of Trump and Syria, and Trump has portrayed His decision to raise the sanctions On Damascus in favor of his host, the Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

Israel, who still considers Syria as a security threat and had urged Trump to maintain the sanctions in place, was ignored because it apparently appeared on a certain number of recent American initiatives in the region, of the Interviews underway with Iran At ceasefire with the Houthis rebels of Yemen. Asked on Friday if he knew that Israel is opposed to the American recognition of the new Syrian government, Trump replied: “I don’t know, I did not question them about it.”

“This week, there was a party in the Middle East – a large ball full of colorful costumes, silver and changing hands of gold – and we found ourselves playing the role of Cinderella before transformation,” wrote the columnist Sima Kadmon in the Yediot Ahronot in Israel.

“The godmother of the fairy, we thought we had gone to Saudi Arabia and Qatar.”

Israel sidelined

Trump jumped Israel His first big foreign tourwho rather took him to Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates.

Israel has also been excluded from An agreement with Hamas to release an American hostage From Gaza, where Israel is trying to destroy the militant group. Trump has reached a separate truce with the Houthi rebels of Yemen who allowed them to form their fire on Israel and holds speaks with Iran on its nuclear program This could lead to another agreement that Israel rejects.

There was no open confrontation between Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who both say that relations have never been better. Trump has not yet groaned Israel, at least in public, as former President Joe Biden sometimes did it, during civil death in the Gaza Strip.

But compared to Trump’s first mandate when he Upset decades of American foreign policy To provide unprecedented support to Israel, something has changed.

An emphasis on fast victories

This time, Trump seems to seek fast victories – major investment offers to stimulate the American economy and diplomatic agreements Like the Indian-Pakistan ceasefire and the release of hostages.

In this regard, Netanyahu does not have much to offer.

Israel 19 -month military campaign in Gaza killed tens of thousands of Palestinians and reduced entire cities in rubbing, but has not yet achieved one of the Netanyahu war objectives – the defeat of Hamas and the return of all the hostages taken in the attack of October 7, 2023, which sparked the war.

Netanyahu refused to end the war in exchange for the release of the remaining hostages, or to accept a path to the Palestinian State – the main Saudi requirements for the type of historical normalization agreement that Trump has long sought.

“Trump has given Israel many opportunities, and ammunition prohibited by the Biden administration to end the war in Gaza. This is what Trump wants,” said Eytan Gilboa, an expert in American-Israeli relations in Bar-Ilan and Reichman universities. Instead, War intensifies.

“Netanyahu gets closer to the status of a loser in Trump’s eyes,” said Gilboa.

Trump denies rift and little expect pressure on Gaza

Trump has minimized any rift, telling journalists on tour that his relations with regional leaders are “good for Israel”.

The irony is that Israel is excluded from a regional realignment which he has largely created, by inflicting punishing losses on Iran and its allies after the attack on October 7. Its Hezbollah debate in Lebanon has accelerated the fall of Syrian President Bashar Assad, and Iran could be more open to concessions on its nuclear program after A wave of Israeli reprisal strikes Last year.

Michael Oren, historian and former Israeli ambassador to the United States, said that there was at least one precedent for the approach of Trump.

“It will make residents of Washington Crazy, but it most likes the Obama administration,” he said.

During the first visit of Barack Obama as president in the Middle East, he also jumped Israel. Oren, a criticism of this administration who was the envoy of Israel to the United States at the time, said that Obama had violated a tacit rule of American-Israeli relations several times-that there is no surprise. This led to public spots with Netanyahu, in particular around the 2015 Iranian nuclear agreement.

Few expect a rehearsal under Trump – or that he will publicly support Israel to finish the war in Gaza, despite Humanitarian disaster Unlefhed by his war and his blockade.

Trump said the days of the United States Give “conferences” to the countries of the Middle East are completed – that decades of American intervention have done more harm than good.

And the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is the last place where an American president would seek a rapid victory.

“He is not looking for combat with Israel,” said Oren. “He wants to end war, but war can end in different ways.”

___

Follow the coverage of the war from https://apnews.com/hub/israel-hamas-war