As President Donald Trump sets out for the Middle East in the first international trip of his second administration, signs of disagreements have emerged between the U.S. leader and one of the men who most enthusiastically welcomed his return to office.
Trump’s decision to skip Israel on his tour of Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates comes as the president appeared to sideline Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on several key issues related to the regional conflict that has emerged over the ongoing war in the Gaza Strip.
Now, “the profound extent of their schism” has been laid bare by the White House’s nuclear diplomacy with Iran, direct talks with the Palestinian Hamas movement and Yemeni Ansar Allah—also known as the Houthis—and heightened tariffs against Israel, according to Shalom Lipner, former adviser to seven consecutive Israeli premiers, including Netanyahu.
“Trump and Netanyahu are exasperated with each other—each feeling that their concerns and objectives are under-appreciated by the other,” Lipner, now senior fellow at the Atlantic Council, told Newsweek. “Both of them have legitimate arguments to make, but they seem to be talking past each other.”
For Trump, a president who often boasts about “holding the cards” in high-stakes negotiations—most famously during a heated encounter with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky at the White House in late February—Lipner felt the U.S. leader once again appears to have the necessary leverage to get his way.
“The nature of that bilateral relationship—with Israel still reliant upon the military, diplomatic and economic assistance of the United States—is such that the prime minister will have little alternative, but to fall in line ultimately behind the president,” Lipner said.
Measuring the Distance
The extent to which Trump and Netanyahu are truly at odds remains a matter of debate. Officials on both sides have downplayed reports of divisions between the two men.
White House National Security Council spokesperson James Hewitt defended Trump’s record on Israel and said that the president remained committed to the regional goals he has long outlined.
“Israel has had no better friend in its history than President Trump,” Hewitt told Newsweek. “We continue to work closely with our ally Israel to ensure remaining hostages in Gaza are freed, Iran never obtains a nuclear weapon, and to strengthen regional security in the Middle East.”
“As he has repeatedly stated in his first and second terms, the President is committed to ensuring Iran never obtains a nuclear weapon,” Hewitt added.
Israeli Consul General in New York Ofir Akunis, appointed by Netanyahu in May 2024, argued that ties between the two leaders remained strong, particularly in comparison to the experience under the Biden administration.
“The relationship between the current American administration and the Israeli government, heading by President Trump and Prime Minister Netanyahu, is very close, and it’s very good,” Akunis told Newsweek. “The only leader that visited the White House twice from January was Netanyahu, so you can judge yourself.”
“Of course, by the way, it’s not that we will not find ourselves thinking in different ways about the solutions to all the issues in the Middle East,” he added. “But we’re talking about it.”
Akunis expressed appreciation for Trump’s role in securing the release of Edan Alexander, a dual U.S.-Israeli citizen who was freed Monday after direct negotiations between the U.S. and Hamas, as well as Trump’s willingness to apply “pressure” on the group. Akunis asserted that it was President Joe Biden’s administration that exerted pressure on Israel, a tactic he called “a huge mistake.”
The Israeli diplomat was particularly critical of Biden’s decision last year to withhold certain weapons from the Israel Defense Forces over human rights concerns, and he was especially grateful for Trump’s crackdown against pro-Palestinian protests at university campuses.
“We appreciate the new administration’s support,” Akunis said.
Daniel Kurtzer, who previously served as U.S. ambassador to Egypt and Israel under Presidents Bill Clinton and George W. Bush, also dismissed reports that Trump had cut contact with Netanyahu. He said that “there is no serious schism between them–yet.”
At the same time, the former U.S. diplomat argued that “several U.S. actions in recent days—e.g., the ceasefire with the Houthis that did not include Houthi attacks against Israel, and reports that the U.S. might not demand full dismantlement of the Iranian nuclear program—have surprised Netanyahu and the Israelis.”
Now, Kurtzer said, a new test will manifest from Trump’s visit to Saudi Arabia, a country with which the Biden administration had sought to strike a deal for diplomatic relations with Israel in exchange for an array of U.S. agreements, including ramped up defense ties and support for developing a civil nuclear program.
“Netanyahu is well familiar with Trump’s penchant for making policy and policy statements off the seat of his pants, without a strategy,” Kurtzer said. “The Israelis will be watching Trump’s Gulf visit to see if elements of the relationship go further off the rails, e.g., if Trump cuts a deal with the Saudis on civil nuclear power without Saudi normalization with Israel.”
While Kurtzer felt there was little risk of a total falling out, he did not preclude a cooler dynamic should the two men continue to diverge.
“Trump is probably annoyed that Netanyahu restarted the war in Gaza and is threatening further escalation,” Kurtzer said. “This runs counter to Trump’s boast that he would bring the war to an end immediately upon taking office.
“U.S. demands on humanitarian assistance in Gaza also appear to be surfacing without full coordination with Israel,” he continued. “A crisis in relations is highly unlikely, but further distancing between the two is possible.”
‘America First’ Comes to Israel
The situation marks a stark contrast to the warm relationship Trump and Netanyahu once enjoyed, even if signals of dissonance had appeared long before.
When Trump won a decisive election in November, Netanyahu was the first to extend congratulations over what he referred to as “history’s greatest comeback.” The victory came as Biden struggled to advance negotiations toward a ceasefire in Gaza.
A second Trump presidency was widely seen as a win for the Israeli premier, who scored a string of key achievements during the U.S. leader’s first time in office.
These include securing U.S. recognition of the disputed city of Jerusalem as the capital of Israel and Syria’s occupied Golan Heights as Israeli territory. The crowning success was marked by the 2020 Abraham Accords that ultimately resulted in the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Sudan and Morocco establishing diplomatic ties with Israel.
But when Biden successfully defeated Trump in a heated election later that same year, Trump was reportedly livid at Netanyahu’s decision to congratulate the incoming U.S. leader despite Trump still contesting the vote.
And from early on in his second quest to obtain the presidency, Trump made clear that he sought a new legacy-making accomplishment in the Middle East for his second nonconsecutive term: peace. Having criticized Netanyahu for failing to intercept the Hamas-led attack that sparked the war in Gaza in October 2023, Trump repeatedly called on the Israeli premier to put an end to the conflict before he entered office.
Trump’s trusted Middle East envoy, Steve Witkoff, is widely credited with applying the necessary pressure to get Israel and Hamas to sign a temporary truce in line with Biden’s three-stage plan. In February, the president went even further in outlining a vision for the resettlement of Palestinians outside of Gaza in order to develop the war-torn territory into a “Riviera of the Middle East.”
The plan won a ringing endorsement from Netanyahu during his first visit of Trump’s presidency. But by his second trip in April, Trump’s dream appeared to be on hold as Israel resumed attacks in Gaza, and the two men indicated a lack of alignment on a number of issues, including how to proceed on nuclear talks with Tehran.
Meanwhile, members of Trump’s Cabinet dedicated to overseeing his “America First” approach have increasingly prevailed over hawkish voices.
“President Trump is focused on America First, has limited concern for the views of allies, and wants to advance his agenda with no constraints or delays,” Daniel Shapiro, who served as U.S. ambassador to Israel under former President Barack Obama and later as Biden’s special liaison to Israel on Iran, told Newsweek.
“The more isolationist parts of his administration are gaining strength, leading to real divisions with Israel over Iran nuclear talks and the campaign to counter Houthi aggression,” Shapiro said. “He wants to limit U.S. military engagement in the Middle East, while Israel believes there is still a need and opportunity to strike the Houthis and hold Iran’s nuclear program at risk.”
If Trump is indeed shifting on Israel, his mindset may be reflective of broader trends taking place in nationwide perceptions of the ally among Americans of all backgrounds.
A Pew Research Center survey published last month showed that unfavorable views of Israel in the U.S. had risen from 42 percent to 53 percent from 2022 to 2025. While Democrats still possess the least favorable views at 69 percent, up from 53 percent three years ago, unfavorable Republican views of Israel have climbed from 27 percent to 37 percent in that time, with roughly half of Republicans ages 18 to 49 now holding a negative opinion.
Still, Shapiro argued that it would be a “big mistake” for Trump to keep Israel in the dark on major decisions—and vice versa—as “there should be a mutual policy of no surprises.”
Netanyahu’s Tough Spot
Any major break in the U.S.-Israel relationship, however unlikely, would come at a difficult time for Netanyahu.
While widely victorious on the battlefield, having substantially degraded the capabilities of Hamas and the Lebanese Hezbollah movement, his ruling coalition remains afloat through alliances with far-right parties promoting open-ended war goals. Even limited ceasefire proposals have ignited threats of resignation from key ultranationalists like Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich and National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir.
Open clashes have also erupted at the highest levels of the Israeli government, pitting Netanyahu against his attorney general and chief of the Shin Bet intelligence service as well as between Ben-Gvir and Israel’s chief of police. On the streets, growing numbers of Israelis, including the families of hostages held by Hamas, call for the government to do more to release their loved ones, even if it means ending the war.
Against this backdrop, Shapiro argued that Netanyahu “cannot challenge [Trump] the way he did Presidents Obama and Biden by going to Congress or the opposition party to build pressure, so his options to push back are limited.”
“But he is also constrained by his far-right coalition partners, who would never allow him to end the war or to make gestures to the Palestinians that could help advance Israeli-Saudi normalization,” Shapiro said. “The only thing that will change this dynamic is an Israeli election which could bring about a new prime minister or a new coalition with centrist parties, not bound to the far-right extremes.”
Lipner, too, noted how “political alignments in both the United States and Israel have dealt Netanyahu a tough hand.”
“Trump’s uncontested grip on the levers of American power have constricted the maneuverability of the prime minister, who has previously tried—often, successfully—to enlist sympathetic voices in the administration, Congress and among the public to plead Israel’s case,” Lipner said. “Netanyahu’s domestic wiggle room has been neutralized similarly by a hardline coalition whose uncompromising positions offer little latitude to meet Trump’s expectations.”
Even for Netanyahu, who has become Israel’s longest serving premier over the course of three non-consecutive terms through unmatched political prowess, the situation presents a formidable set of challenges.
Shira Efron, director of research at the Israel Policy Forum and a special adviser to the Israeli Defense Ministry, felt it would be “hard to find” a path toward a grand bargain that would include Israeli-Palestinian peace and Israeli-Saudi normalization.
With “the zone of possible cooperation” narrow, she argued that the alternative to watch for would be “the zone of possible coercion.”
“Will Trump be interested in forcing Israel’s hand to accept a full ceasefire? I am not sure,” Efron said. “Can Netanyahu choose the latter course—yes, but then he loses his coalition, which he is unwilling to risk for now.”
“Clearly, Trump’s unique style, unexpected behavior, his approval ratings in Israel, and after the precedent of the Zelensky ‘treatment,’ Netanyahu has far less tools to protest the Trump administration’s actions that concern Israel,” she added.
Still, Efron noted that support for Israel remains a major component of U.S. foreign policy, and a belief deeply held by a number of influential figures, including those within Trump’s administration. As such, she was skeptical that Trump would go too far in alienating Netanyahu as he counted on drumming up domestic support for potential deals with Iran and Saudi Arabia, both of which remain controversial among his support base.
“Rather than a real rift here—although time will tell—I think we have clocks that are not synchronized, with Trump being impatient and wanting to cut deals quickly and Netanyahu, in his usual playbook, playing for time,” Efron said. “The president, seeing his America First interests, is not going to wait for Netanyahu.”
Thus far, she said, Trump’s actions indicate “that the president really puts America first.”
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