Egypt Daily News – The right-wing government in Israel maintained diplomatic silence this week as U.S. President Donald Trump launched a storm of statements that shook Israeli assumptions regarding the status of their country with its most important allies.
Trump’s decision to bypass Israel and snub them during his current visit to the Middle East is seen as a sign of his administration’s increasing focus on profitable trade deals with wealthy Gulf countries, including Qatar, which Israeli officials have long accused of supporting the Palestinian Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas).
Israel was already tense before the visit began, due to U.S. talks with its arch-enemy Iran and Trump’s decision to halt the bombing of Houthi forces in Yemen, despite the movement allied with Tehran continuing its missile strikes against Israel.
Israeli officials stood by as observers while the U.S. negotiated an agreement with Hamas to bring home Eidan Alexander, the last American hostage in Gaza.
They even found themselves listening to Trump announcing the end of sanctions on Syria and calling for the normalization of relations with the new government in Damascus, which Israel considers a jihadist regime that barely hides its true face.
Even when Trump spoke in Riyadh on Tuesday, claiming credit for the ceasefire agreement with the Houthis, Israeli media pointed out that air raid sirens were sounding in areas across Israel, including Jerusalem and Tel Aviv, as a missile from Yemen was heading toward them.
Trump himself ignored any suggestion of a break with Israel, telling accompanying journalists in the Gulf that his visit would ultimately benefit a country that he still considers one of his strongest supporters.
“This is good for Israel, to have a relationship like this with these countries, the Middle Eastern countries, all of them…” Trump said. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has not made any comments so far, other than thanking Trump for helping to free Alexander.
However, he faces widespread public perception that Israel is lagging behind, especially since it is already under international pressure due to the war in Gaza, which has hindered its hopes of normalizing relations with Saudi Arabia.
Yoav Limor, a commentator for the right-wing “Israel Hayom” newspaper, wrote, “The Middle East is being reshaped before our eyes through a series of agreements and meetings, while Israel (at best) stands as an observer.”
