According to senior United States officials who spoke with their Israeli counterparts this week on condition of anonymity, the Trump administration feels “frustrated” and “disappointed” with Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu (Likud) and Israeli politics in general.
“Americans are discouraged and frustrated by Israeli politics and the current political crisis, which has prevented the White House from unveiling the political part of the deal of the century,” they said, in reference to the Trump administration’s long-delayed plan to divide Israel into two separate states.
The White House sources added that US President Donald Trump has expressed feeling “very disappointed” with Netanyhau and often speaks negatively about him.
They further said that Trump has decided to distance himself from Netanyahu following the latter’s failure to secure a clear victory in the April 9 elections and form a coalition, despite the public support he received from Trump.
“The president doesn’t like losers,” said a source in the administration.
Former US Presidents Bill Clinton and Barack Obama had similarly been frustrated with Netanyahu’s indirect resistance to American efforts to divide the Land of Israel. Both interfered in Israel’s political system to remove the prime minister from office, with Clinton succeeding in 1999 and Obama failing in 2015.
Whether or not Trump has had a hand in Israel’s current political crisis, it’s likely that he now sees an opportunity to replace Netanyahu with a leader more pliable to US interests.
Before the April 9 vote, Netanyahu was invited to the White House, where Trump officially recognized the Golan Heights as Israel’s sovereign territory.
During 2019’s second Israeli election cycle ahead of the September 17 vote, however, Trump made no dramatic pro-Israel statements other than a vague tweet committing to form a security alliance with Jerusalem.
The cooling of Trump’s public treatment of the prime minister, coupled with this week’s leak that the US president is frustrated with Netanyahu, is likely geared towards further damaging an already politically vulnerable national leader.
After two election cycles in one year, Netanyahu has been unable to form a governing coalition, mainly due to the political machinations of Yisrael Beitenu leader Avigdor Lieberman – revealed by Vision Magazine to be acting on behalf of the Trump administration.
Trump knows that much of what remains of Netanyahu’s domestic approval stems from the perception that he has a close relationship with the American president. Publicizing his frustration and disappointment with Netanyahu at a time when the prime minister is fighting for his political survival is obviously meant to rid the US administration of an uncooperative Israeli leader seen as an obstacle to Trump’s regional agenda.
This analysis is supported by recent statements from former US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson in September that Netanyahu “played” Trump on several occasions by misleading him with incorrect information.
“In dealing with Bibi, it’s always useful to carry a healthy amount of skepticism in your discussions with him,” he was quoted as saying during a Harvard University address in September.
