The dilemma of the Israeli Prime Minister and the American President: What does the 'bitter' phone call between Trump and Netanyahu reveal?

 

The dilemma of the Israeli Prime Minister and the American President: What does the 'bitter' phone call between Trump and Netanyahu reveal?

 

Donald Trump is another US president who has apparently fallen out with the Israeli prime minister. The reason is said to be the Israeli military operation in Lebanon, which has made a diplomatic solution with Iran difficult.

Tehran had indicated that it would suspend talks with the US after the Israeli attacks on Lebanon, which potentially set back Trump’s efforts to exit an unpopular war.

During an interview with the New York Post, US President Donald Trump also confirmed a phone call with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, in which he used inappropriate language towards the Israeli prime minister.

During the interview, the host asked: ‘(News website) Axios reported that your wife had a phone call with Netanyahu, in which you got angry at him and said, ‘Are you crazy? What are you doing?’ I helped you stay out of jail.’ Did you (Trump) talk to him like that?’

The US President confirmed the conversation, saying, ‘Yes, I did. I wouldn’t say I was angry, I was a little upset about his continued fighting with Lebanon.’

‘I said we have to stop it.’

On this occasion, President Trump praised the Israeli Prime Minister, saying, ‘I have a great relationship with him. We have done a great job together, I like Bibi (Netanyahu) very much and I have done a great job with him.’

Trump is not the first US president to have tangled with Netanyahu. Netanyahu has a long history of testing the patience of US presidents. And also of avoiding any political damage.

 

On the other hand, Netanyahu himself has said that “like good families, sometimes there are disagreements.” In an interview with CNBC, Trump said that “we always find a way, and like good friends.”

Netanyahu said that “the two of them can have a disagreement in the morning and an agreement by the afternoon.”

However, experts warn that Trump’s conversation with Netanyahu may indicate American frustration with the alignment of American and Israeli military and political objectives, which is linked to the Iran war.

Trett Bruin is a former diplomat and president of the crisis communications agency Global Situation Room. “Netanyahu has a long history of doing what he wants, no matter what Washington tells him,” he says.

Speaking to the BBC, Brett said, “Trump decided to side with him and is now learning a hard lesson about what happens when you go to war with a leader whose goals are different from your own.”

Trump and Netanyahu agree on America’s primary goal of preventing Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons. But interests differ in Lebanon, where Israel wants to target the Iranian-backed Hezbollah while talks with Iran are ongoing. Iran insists that Lebanon should be included in the ceasefire.

In this context, the number of citizens in the United States who are critical of the US government’s support for Israel is increasing.

A Pew survey in April found that 60 percent of Americans have negative views of Israel, up from 42 percent before the war with Hamas.

Many conservative figures in the United States have also spoken out and criticized Israel for persuading Trump to go to war with Iran, although both the White House and Netanyahu deny this.

Among those critics is Joe Kent, who was the head of the National Counterterrorism Center but resigned in March. He said, “We started this war under pressure from Israel and the powerful American lobby.”

The American Israel Public Affairs Committee, a pro-Israel lobbying group, responded to Joe Kent’s resignation by accusing him of repeating “anti-Semitic attitudes of the past.”

In this political climate, some experts say that Trump has a justification to disagree with Netanyahu in order to appease domestic critics.

Netanyahu has been a problem for US presidents even before Trump. Netanyahu clashed with former President Bill Clinton over the implementation of the Oslo peace accords. Netanyahu had further difficulties with Barack Obama, especially after a speech to the US Congress on Iran in 2015 that was arranged without the White House being informed.

Netanyahu's relationship with Joe Biden deteriorated when he accused the US of withholding arms supplies.

Netanyahu is an expert on US-Israel relations at the Nathan Sachs Middle East Institute. He says Netanyahu's relationship with US presidents has been quite bad.

"He is a difficult character and one of the reasons for that is suspicion."

Trump also used an inappropriate word last year when talking about Netanyahu when Israel's attack after the 12-day war threatened a ceasefire with Iran.

Overall, Trump and Netanyahu have had a positive relationship, with Netanyahu calling Trump “the greatest friend of Israel in American history.”

 

“In Trump, Netanyahu found someone who seemed willing to change the Middle East in a new way,” says Nathan Sachs.

“Netanyahu wanted to change the rules of the game and deal militarily with the Iranian axis of resistance.”

Will the recent conflict change that relationship? The answer to that question is not yet clear. “It’s important, but we don’t know if it was a one-time thing or if there are broader differences behind it,” says Sachs.

“Trump has changed his mind about a lot of people in the past,” he says.