It looks like Bibi underestimated Trump

The Israeli right thought they had a patsy in the White House; they must think again. Meanwhile, Israel's foolish government risks throwing away a monumental opportunity for peace with Saudi Arabia.

There is a dawning realization in official Israel that Donald Trump may not be quite the pushover that the country’s far-right government had assumed. After all, the Netanyahu camp greeted Trump’s presidential victory with barely concealed glee, given that his first term was seen as very pro-Israel.

He recognized Jerusalem as Israel’s capital and moved the U.S. embassy there, ending the long-running anomaly of countries trying to dictate the location of another nation’s capital. Then came American recognition of Israeli sovereignty over the Golan Heights, a territory captured from Syria in 1967 and formally annexed by Israel in 1981. He oversaw the Abraham Accords, the 2020 normalization deals between Israel and the UAE, Bahrain, and other Middle Eastern countries. These agreements marked a sea change — particularly with the UAE, where which offered Israel not just recognition but a warm embrace, with no visible concessions demanded in return.

For many on the Israeli right, Trump seemed like a dream: uninterested in Palestinian statehood, unbothered by human rights critiques, uncritical of West Bank settlements, and largely aligned with their “might makes right” worldview. Certainly Trump is no humanist idealist, and clearly he is not a thinker of profound, deep and complex thoughts. But still, appearances can deceive and there may be more than meets the ultranationalist eye.

Just a few weeks ago, Trump was proclaiming that he and Netanyahu were “on the same side of every issue.” Now, he’s skipping Israel on the first Middle Eastern visit of his new presidency, and has reportedly stepped back from his once-close relationship with his Israeli counterpart.