Link to article: https://www.jpost.com/opinion/article-880362
For years, Benjamin Netanyahu has sold Donald Trump to the Israelis as a once-in-a-generation ally. He is portrayed as a leader who has recognized Jerusalem, helped engineer the Abraham Accords, and backs Israel against in their animosity with Iran.
Adversely, Trump’s newly released National Security Strategy points to a colder, more conditional reality for Israel’s relationship with the US. The document describes the US as narrowing its focus, shifting burdens to regional partners, and measuring friendships by whether they advance current American priorities rather than emotional attachment or historic partnership.
The stated gap shows up most clearly in Syria. The strategy symbolizes Syrian stabilization as a potential win, imagining a rebuilt Syria supported by the US, Israel, Turkey, and other Arab states. This is an outcome meant to reduce chaos, limit Iranian influence, and support a wider regional order. Trump has also signaled a preference for engaging Syria’s new leadership as a method of reconstruction. Benjamin Netanyahu’s government is moving in the opposite direction – continued strikes, expansion in the buffer zone, and open skepticism toward Damascus. In the Trump administration’s new framing and verbage, those choices risk making Israel look less like a stabilizing partner and more like the actor keeping Syria volatile.
The Israeli-Palestinian issue is even more tied to interdependency. Trump’s strategy leans heavily on dealmaking, through expanding the Abraham Accords and extending normalization deeper into the Muslim world. However, wider normalization is not something Israel can secure alone. Arab governments have repeatedly linked the next steps to progress on Palestinian statehood. Many countries in the Middle East fully support Palestine’s request for independence and sovereignty, which undermines that of Israel. It is suggested that Netanyahu has backed himself into a corner – he could offer a delayed, conditional pathway – statehood only after disarmament and Palestinian Authority reform. This is something Trump could package as measurable, transactional progress. Instead, he offers no timeline, no conditions, and no end destination.