The USA and Israel are always, by necessity, the staunchest allies, but Donald Trump is a pragmatist, while Benjamin Netanyahu, hostage to the extreme right and the need to stay in power at all costs, is also expendable. Here's the lesson of the truce imposed to Gaza
Trump is a wild and unpredictable variable in the global political landscape. Netanyahu is a very shrewd politician who knows how to seize opportunities
Only later will we find out if the relationship between Donald Trump and Benjamin Netanyahu is really as good as most of the population thinks. In truth, the White House president-elect, who begins his second term on Pennsylvania Avenue, doesn’t like Netanyahu very much. Trump doesn’t like anyone who outshines him, and it’s no coincidence that his relationship with Elon Musk also seems to be going downhill.
Netanyahu is certainly an important figure for the Middle East. First of all, he is the longest-serving prime minister in Israeli history. The United States and Israel are bound together by a deep and immediate alliance and interdependence based on many factors, especially economic, military, and civil society, that do not depend on who sits in the White House or in Jerusalem. Proof of this is the unequivocal support that Joe Biden, certainly no friend of Bibi’s, gave to the Jewish state in the Gaza war, despite his many statements. But Trump is a wild and unpredictable variable in the global political landscape. Netanyahu is a very shrewd politician who knows how to seize the opportunity. What they both have in common is that they are willing to go to any lengths to achieve their goals.
And that’s what led to the Gaza agreement. That very agreement, which was born in Israel and proposed in late May by President Biden at a press conference. It was also supported by the United Nations. Hamas has amended it, especially on the issue of the Philadelphi Corridor, the border between Gaza and Egypt, from where Israel says weapons, contraband, and other items enter the Strip. Moreover, he insisted on a clear commitment to withdrawal. Netanyahu didn’t want to go any further, saying an agreement was impossible under the new conditions. The same proposal was resubmitted in July, but Hamas was not even willing to come to the negotiating table. A few weeks ago, this issue was brought up again, also because a lot has changed in the meantime.
The American architect of the Abraham Accords knows that with the birth of a Palestinian state, Saudi Arabia’s entry into it will become easier. Netanyahu and his settler ministers are an obstacle
First of all, it is the White House master and his threat to raise hell if no agreement is reached by the time he is sworn in. This is exactly what Netanyahu has done, albeit reluctantly, given his condition and the likely government crisis affecting the ability to repay the debts. Secondly, Israeli policy, including military policy, although failed at home and in Gaza, has achieved notable results abroad, which also pleases Washington. The destruction of Hezbollah, the election of a pro-Western Lebanese president and former army commander (who said in his first statement that the only armed people in the land of the cedars would be the military), and the election of a prime minister; the changed situation in Syria (hopefully the changes will be long term); the downsizing of Iran – these are certainly very good things. However, continuing to assert his position in the territories, stifling the far right (against the Gaza agreement promoted by Trump) will definitely not bring a medal to Netanyahu’s chest.
Trump is a pragmatist. And Netanyahu will become expendable if he does not fit into the Greater Middle East project that Saudi Arabia is bound to enter. The American architect of the Abraham Accords knows that with the birth of a Palestinian state, Saudi Arabia’s entry into it will become easier. Netanyahu and his settler ministers are an obstacle. After all, during his first term, the White House host repeatedly acknowledged that Bibi would never want peace with the Palestinians and publicly favored the more moderate Benny Gantz. Who was at Mar-a-Lago these days. Benjamin Netanyahu was not even invited to the swearing-in, and when the new American president announced the truce and hostage release agreement on Wednesday, January 15, on the Truth social network, he didn’t even mention him.
Bibi, as they call him in Tel Aviv, is cornered. Trump forced him into the same agreement as in May, the same agreement as in July, which Hamas did not want and on whose approval he staked, realizing that continued war means his continued government.
In November 2023, Hamas released about ten hostages a day for a week, and now Netanyahu has admitted, after a lightning visit by Trump’s special envoy to the Middle East, that this will happen to 33 people within six weeks. Not even knowing what awaits the others or what condition the hostages are in.
America will never give up on Israel, also because, as we said above, it depends on it. But Netanyahu is not Israel. And Trump wants to make history through the impossible: pacifying the Middle East. If that means sacrificing those who named a city in the Golan after him, so be it.