A more accurate metaphor is that Netanyahu refused to get on board, so Trump just ran him over
AT an emergency cabinet meeting last Wednesday afternoon, a visibly worried Israeli prime minister struggled to explain what happened to all the talk of seeing “eye to eye” with Washington. Netanyahu was following Trump’s Gulf state tour with dismay bordering on disbelief.
In private, he sounds a lot less sanguine than he does in public, and one gets the sense that he’s walking in the dark. Who better than he to understand the potential ramifications of Trump’s lovefest in the Gulf?
Even as Saudi Arabia, the Emirates, and Qatar emptied their pockets for Trump with massive investment commitments, Israel increasingly looks like it’s in Trump’s pocket. True, it could have been worse. Trump could have called for an end to the war and openly criticized Israel’s actions. But the situation is problematic enough as it is.
Bibi has found himself in an impossible position, excluded from Trump’s circle on every issue. It started before Trump’s visit to the region, with the direct nuclear talks with Iran and the truce with the Houthis — at Israel’s expense and without its knowledge.
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