US President Donald Trump is reassessing Washington’s relationship with Tel Aviv as tensions deepen over Iran, Lebanon, and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s political calculations, Al Jazeera reported.
Netanyahu is navigating what analysts describe as the most dangerous period of his four-decade political career, facing a possible corruption conviction and elections later this year. Iran has set a key condition for a final peace deal with Washington: Israel must stop its war in southern Lebanon. That demand has put the United States and Israel on a collision course.
Last month, a leaked phone call — which the White House did not deny — revealed Trump harshly rebuking Netanyahu for not halting attacks on Lebanon. Reports said Trump called Netanyahu “crazy,” accused him of ingratitude, and told him: “Everyone hates you now. Because of all this, everyone now hates Israel.” In an interview with Axios last week, Trump said: “Netanyahu knows very well who the real boss is.”
Vice President JD Vance described Trump as the only world leader currently sympathetic to Israel, while warning Israeli ministers: “Two-thirds of the defensive weapons you need to defend your homeland are made by Americans and paid for by American taxpayers.”
Recent polls show not only the American public but a significant portion of Trump’s right-wing populist MAGA movement has grown deeply skeptical of Israel. Former hardline MAGA supporter Marjorie Taylor Greene now sharply criticizes US aid to Israel. Conservative commentator Tucker Carlson said in late June that Trump has “finally realized Israel is the biggest threat to his administration,” accusing Israel of manipulating Trump into striking Iran to create a pretext for another war in Lebanon.
Daniel Byman, a researcher at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington and Georgetown University professor, told Al Jazeera that Trump has considerable flexibility. “Many Republicans are staunchly pro-Israel, but the president has an extremely loyal base and has shown he can bring much of the party along. He would also find support from many Democrats, since criticism of Israel within the Democratic Party is growing daily,” Byman said.
Since 2016, Israel has been receiving $38 billion in military aid over 10 years under a memorandum of understanding — the largest such package in US history. US diplomatic support has been crucial during Israel’s war in Gaza, where at least 72,000 Palestinians have been killed since October 7, 2023. Washington has used its veto at the UN Security Council at least six times on Israel’s behalf.
As Israel prepares for general elections, Netanyahu’s political rivals have seized on the deteriorating relationship with Washington. Opposition leader and former Prime Minister Yair Lapid wrote on X: “If we don’t change this government quickly, Israel’s foreign relations will be completely destroyed.” Former army chief of staff Gadi Eisenkot, a leading contender to unseat Netanyahu, accused the prime minister of making the situation so dire that Trump has been forced to pursue Iran diplomacy without Israel.
Former US diplomat Aaron David Miller noted that while Trump is not the first president to clash with Israel, few have done so as publicly. “No US president or vice president has spoken in the kind of language this administration has used, or leaked conversations with Israeli counterparts in which they are belittled and demeaned. Israel has never been this unpopular with Congress or the general public — Republican and Democratic voters alike,” he said.
However, there is no indication the Trump administration is considering a complete break. Miller said any sustained pressure would require the prospect of a major diplomatic achievement — and no current issue, whether Lebanon, Gaza, or Israeli-Saudi normalization, offers that possibility at this moment.
বাংলায় মূল প্রতিবেদন পড়ুন · Read the original Bengali report