President Donald Trump will make a gust of high-stakes negotiations with his visit to Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates next week, but his trip appears to have seen a rift appear in relation to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
On the agenda, it has revived hostage talks with Israel and Hamas, exploring the off-ramp of the Russian-Ukraine war and potentially private nuclear deals with Saudi Arabia, even as the kingdom refuses to normalize relations with Israel.
However, the obvious cold between Trump and Netanyahu attracted the attention of Middle Eastern watchers.
Israeli Army Radio correspondent Yanil Kozin claimed this week that Trump had “cut off contact” with Israeli leaders. The report has not been confirmed independently, but it coincides with a new perception that Trump Netanyahu’s axis may be frayed in Israeli political circles.
The fourth round of US and Iran talks will be concluded as Trump embarks on his historic Middle East tour
President Donald Trump will meet Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on April 7, 2025 at a meeting that announced the nuclear talks with Iran in Washington, DC (Reuters/Kevin Mohatt)
“There’s always a way to get the president’s madness, so to speak,” said Scott Feltman, executive vice president of One Israel Fund. “I think about that in general [Trump] He is very hoping that Israel will stand on his own feet… To some extent he may be giving the Prime Minister a bit of a harsh love. ”
Sources said Reuters Trump is ready to move forward with a private nuclear deal with Riyadh, even if Saudi Arabia refrains from normalizing relations with Israel.
For Israel, the change can be unsettling. Riyadh has long argued for the creation of a Palestinian state as a prerequisite for a full ties with Israel, a result of Netanyahu’s rejection.
Over the weekend, it was revealed that Trump was discussing a potential deal with Doha officials to lend a jet to the US to replace the air force. Israeli supporters have long been skeptical of Qatar and claim it has a connection to Hamas.
Meanwhile, Jerusalem’s complaints grew this week when the US reached a ceasefire agreement with Yemeni Hooty militants. The deal, brokered without Israeli opinion, demanded that the Houtis cease attacks on the Red Sea transport lanes, but did not mention their attack on Israel.
“Trump, most of them basically threw Israel under the bus,” said Avi Melamed, former Israeli intelligence director and local analyst. “I think the Israeli government is both confused and embarrassing… especially in the Houtis context.”
Netanyahu has made it clear that Israel does not rely on the US to deal with the Hooty threat. “Israel will defend itself with its own army,” he said Thursday.
Trump says the last living American hostage, Edan Alexander, will be released by Hamas
Our and the Saudi flag will flap wings on the main highways of Riyadh before President Donald Trump arrives in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia on May 12, 2025.
Despite rhetoric, the United States continues to support Israel’s defense. On Friday, a US missile system intercepted the rocket and was fired at Israel by the Hooty forces.
“The United States does not need to obtain permission from Israel to make any arrangements to obtain Hausis from ship shootings,” US Ambassador Mike Huckabee told Israel’s Channel 12 this week.
However, Huckabee shot down a report of tension between the two world leaders.
“It’s reckless and irresponsible for the report to claim that @potus and @israelipm aren’t getting along,” Huckabee said in an X’s post.
“Israel has never had any better friends in its history than President Trump. We will continue to work closely with our ally Israel to ensure that the rest of Gaza hostages are released, and Iran will never acquire nuclear weapons.
“It is reckless and irresponsible for the press to assert that @potus and @israelipm are not getting along,” said Israeli US ambassador Mike Huckabee. (Washington Post via Javin Botsford/Getty Images)
Other experts warn against reading too much friction.
“The Israelis had no false impression that the United States was smashing a Houtis to protect Israel,” said Greg Roman of the Middle East Forum. “It was about protecting global commercial transactions…and that wasn’t the US abandoning Israel.”
Roman also downplayed tensions over the possibility of Saudi Arabia’s nuclear deal. “At the end of the day, I think Saudi Arabia will lead to a safer Israel.”
In addition to regional uncertainty, there is Netanyahu’s silence against Iran. His government tallyed recent interests on Iranian Proxy, Hamas, Hezbollah and Assad regimes, but he has previously been heavily on publicly in nuclear negotiations with Tehran.
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Still, Netanyahu says he is in close contact with the Trump team about Iran. “I told President Trump that I hope this is what negotiators do,” he told reporters recently. “We’re in close contact with the US. But I have somehow said that Iran does not have nuclear weapons.”
Trump is not planning to visit Israel on this trip. In fact, I think that’s a very good thing. Because I’ve heard from Sunnis that he’s equally upset about the path that’s going on right now in negotiations with Iran,” Feltman said. “They should lose just as much from the nuclear Iran regime.”
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