President Donald Trump did not betray Israel.
Betrayal suggests that Trump was actually a friend to Israel and to Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu.
Indeed, there is what some refer to as an Israeli “deep state” that has worked for decades to shape our national interests to fit with those of the United States; to be an extension of American power. But that doesn’t mean that Israel’s true interests are aligned with those of the US empire.
Simply put, in the clash of civilizations, Israel’s ruling class and Diaspora supporters have chosen to pursue and promote an identity that resembles the Occident over the Orient.
But the US empire’s historic decline, in tandem with capitalism’s self-destructive contradictions being challenged by a generation that is increasingly suspicious of American hegemonic power, has certainly created a crisis for Israeli elites and the hasbara organizations abroad.
For rightwing Jews who tied their aspirations to the West, Donald Trump has not merely been a positive figure but something resembling a redemptive messianic figure. He is restorative of a Western supremacy that seems to be under threat from all directions.
If Israel were to truly be an extension of Western civilization, then we should be able to appreciate how Trump’s election could be perceived as the better outcome for us. We could understand how the reports surrounding his stormy relationship with Netanyahu, the firing of Mike Waltz for allegedly colluding with Netanyahu, and his apparent 180 degree turn on Israel as a whole, could be perceived as a shocking betrayal.
But the Trump White House hasn’t shifted any gears.
Reports of a rift between Washington and Jerusalem should hardly be newsworthy considering Trump’s vindictive personality and the many fallings out he had with Israel’s longest serving prime minister during Trump’s first term in office. The two sparred on matters ranging from the trivial, such as Netanyahu’s recognition of Joe Biden’s electoral victory, to more core contradictions, like Israeli designs on annexing the territories.
Trump explicitly expressed his frustration with Netanyahu, cursing him for sabotaging his efforts to impose a “two-state solution” on our country. Trump felt that Netanyahu had deceived him and evaded his demands. After meeting Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, Trump praised him as more motivated to accept Trump’s partition plan than Netanyahu.
Donald Trump’s second term, which he won in no small part due to Israel’s war against Hamas, began by pressuring Israel into a deal with Hamas – picking up right where his first term left off.
If we remove Trump’s rhetoric and style, we find that his policies regarding Israel are actually identical to those of his predecessors. Every single US administration that has coincided with the existence of the State of Israel has sought to make the Jewish state dependent and subordinate to US interests.
President Trump’s abandonment of politically correct culture was greeted by many rightwing Jews with excitement but should not be seen as a dramatic change in posture when it comes to the Jewish state. The president has simply removed the liberal mask from US imperialism.
After everything that happened last time around, Trump wants Netanyahu out of office and has diligently worked to undermine him from the right, tacitly implying that he was weak on Hamas, while strong-arming him into a hostage deal.
Trump is not naive. He’s pursuing US imperial interests. Those interests by and large conflict with Israeli national interests and it’s time for the Jewish people – especially Israel’s national camp – to sober up and accept this.
If we accept the fact that US and Israeli interests aren’t the same and expect Trump to pursue American interests at Israel’s expense, we can choose to remain a US vassal that gets dragged down with the empire or we can become an independent nation with a clear perception of its own interests.
Those Jews who saw Trump as a messianic figure need to confront the contradictions inherent in their outlook. But to a slightly lesser extent, so do those Jews uncomfortable with Trump but still wedded to the idea of Israel being part of the West.
Now that the illusion of Trump as Israel’s savior is shattering, it’s an opportune time need to examine what caused this egregious miscalculation to begin with. And we need to ask what an Israel that doesn’t seek to ape the West actually looks like.
