Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu completed his fifth United States visit since President Donald Trump’s January inauguration yesterday. Israeli media characterized the prime minister as actively attempting to placate domestic political partners through securing “concessions” from Trump. These sought-after concessions predominantly concerned denying Turkey participation in Gaza stabilization forces and obtaining US authorization for Israeli strikes on Iran.
Netanyahu achieved neither objective. Trump explicitly referenced his positive relationship with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, mentioning “Bibi’s” respect for him as well. Regarding Iran, Trump discussed Tehran’s willingness to “make a deal” and provided clear guidelines for American involvement while saying nothing regarding authorization for solo Israeli operations. Israeli media suggestions that Trump provided Israel “green light” for Iran strikes find no reflection in Trump’s official statements.
Ceasefire Progress and Reconstruction Plans
Trump discussed Gaza reconstruction beginning “soon.” When addressing Hamas disarmament, he stated it must occur or nearly sixty states will enforce it. Hamas has already agreed to disarm if the process is conducted by Palestinian-led forces. Trump said nothing suggesting disagreement with Hamas’s logic, especially considering participating countries’ refusal to carry out violent disarmament of the group. Trump also made no mention of the final hostage body held in Gaza as necessary condition for advancing to “Stage II” of the agreement.
Nothing carries more significance in Trump’s world than language use and symbolic gestures. When Trump referred to Netanyahu as a “great wartime prime minister” while discussing his “peace” blueprint, he made clear his guest was running out of time. This became especially apparent when Trump said he had spoken with Israel’s official head of state, President Isaac Herzog, about pardoning Netanyahu and was assured such pardon was imminent. President Herzog categorically denied that such conversation had taken place.
The Israel Prize Award
What may best reflect the Trump-Netanyahu meeting at Mar-a-Lago involves a brief phone conversation between Trump and Israeli Education Minister Yoav Kisch. The call’s purpose was for Kisch to inform Trump he will be awarded the Israel Prize on Israel’s Independence Day in 2026. The award is given by the education minister in a televised ceremony attended by Israel’s leaders, marking official end of Independence Day celebrations.
Recipients are most frequently career academics at late career stages. The prize reflects lifetime devotion to expanding human knowledge. Sometimes, special prizes are awarded in civic categories, most often for “life’s work,” such as fostering Jewish-Palestinian coexistence, promoting social equality, etc. The prize, as understood by its name, is nearly always awarded to Israeli citizens but can be awarded to Jews living abroad and even non-Jews who have made “special contribution to the Jewish people.”
In other words, the Trump-Netanyahu meeting involved Trump instructing Netanyahu regarding upcoming measures and Netanyahu snapping to attention and signaling acceptance by heaping yet another semi-fictitious honor on Trump’s already crowded head.
Persistent Narratives of US-Israel Coordination
Yet, despite these clear displays of the unequal nature of their relationship, persistent voices suggest Trump and Netanyahu operate in cahoots. According to such analyses, the United States fully supports Israeli attempts to “change the Middle East”—Netanyahu’s favorite phrase—as Americans pivot toward Asia and global competition with China. Israel will “take care” of the “Iranian threat” as Arabs languish in irresolvable internal tensions and competitions. The mobilization of Arab states after Israeli strikes on Doha is all but ignored.
These voices also point to the fact that Israel continues completely ignoring the “ceasefire” enacted by “Stage I” of the Trump plan, with full United States support. Israel has killed at least 414 Palestinians and committed nearly 1,000 ceasefire violations since October, according to Gaza’s Government Media Office. In fact, Trump said Israel has “lived up” to the ceasefire “100 percent”, and he has no problems with Israel’s actions in Gaza. These include bombing, building and infrastructure destruction, blocking life-saving aid amid harsh weather and many other steps ensuring and expanding ongoing Israeli genocide.
Internal Israeli Contradictions
It is extremely difficult to reconcile this with the notion that Israel has run out of options for delaying Stage II and an internationally-brokered solution to Palestinian statehood. After all, one hears repeatedly from Israeli media about initiatives to “settle Gaza,” “relocate” 1.5 million Palestinians to Somaliland and dismantle Oslo Accords, one ethnically cleansed Palestinian community at a time.
The US and other countries, like Germany and the UK, continue buying Israeli arms at massive rates and equipping Israel with arms of their own. How is it possible to reach a conclusion that Israeli genocide is reaching its endgame? The short answer is that it is not. Israel continues to kill, destroy, subvert and expand efforts to destabilize any semblance of regional order.
For example, Israel recognized Somaliland’s statehood to have a “dumping ground” for ethnically cleansed Palestinians, but also to pit United Arab Emirates against Saudi Arabia, as both have conflicting interests in Somalia, and by doing so, ensure the Palestinian question is not addressed and everyone remains frozen by fear of Israeli weapons.
The longer answer recognizes genocide’s effects on Israel itself: Genocide consumes genocidaires. That is not to suggest justice is assured by cosmic forces; far from it. Justice should be pursued at the most grounded and realistic level, as should dignity and preservation of Palestinian lives. However, the genocide has shaped Israel in its image on a daily, immediate level. Violence rises as quickly as staples’ prices, democracy backslides, and there is no end in sight to the “forever war.”
Israel’s Weakening Position
While Israel has been actively seeking to delete Palestinian identity for nearly 80 years, it has not succeeded in doing so. Israel’s internal contradictions have surfaced with paralyzing force over the past two years. Israel will not “die” or “recede,” but the gap between Israeli perceptions of the world and global perceptions of Israel has never been wider.
Trump and his vision of America do not appreciate “losers.” Israel no longer has any “wins” in the offing. It can and does kill and burn, procrastinate and obfuscate. Even Trump recognizes that this power has no lasting effects following its own immediate application. Israel has no options. There is no greater loss.
Original analysis by Ori Goldberg from Al Jazeera. Republished with additional research and verification by ThinkTanksMonitor.
