Just about 100 days into his second term, US President Donald Trump, who has declared himself "Israel's best friend", has set off on his first Middle East tour that does not include the Jewish state. This raised a number of questions about the relationship between the US president and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who was the first foreign leader to visit the White House after Trump's return, world media outlets write.
Two weeks after Trump's inauguration, Netanyahu was welcomed to Washington, and the rewards that awaited him there included a presidential decree suspending US participation in the UN Human Rights Council and blocking all US funding for UNRWA - the UN agency for assisting Palestinian refugees, as well as a memorandum restoring the policy of "maximum pressure" on the government of Iran, recalls "Foreign Policy".
Trump then declared at a press conference at the White House that the United States "will take over the Gaza Strip". Netanyahu returned to Jerusalem in a triumphant mood. Just two months later, when the Israeli prime minister was suddenly recalled to Washington on April 7, things were no longer looking so optimistic for him, the publication notes.
The anticipatory cancellation of all tariffs on imports of American products into Israel failed to achieve a reciprocal cancellation of the 17 percent tariff imposed by the Trump administration on Israeli products.
The American president also distanced himself from his initial plans to create a "Middle Eastern Riviera" in the Gaza Strip, saying that "a lot of people like my concept, but, you know, there are other concepts that I like too".
Most embarrassing for Netanyahu, however, was being used as a backdrop for Trump's surprise announcement that his representatives would begin "very high-level" negotiations with Iran just a few days later. After this visit, the Israeli prime minister "came home with his tail tucked", commented "Foreign Policy".
In recent weeks, the two leaders have increasingly diverged in their strategies for dealing with a number of challenges in the Middle East, noted the American television network NBC.
Now that "Hamas" has significantly lost its capacity, Israel has decided to expand its operation in the Gaza Strip, but Trump has insisted on a ceasefire. The American president is disappointed with Netanyahu's decision to launch a new military offensive, which he sees as contradictory to his plan to restore this area, noted NBC.
Against this background, two representatives of "Hamas" reported on Sunday to Agence France-Presse that representatives of the movement and the United States had held direct talks in Qatar.
"Direct talks were held in Doha between the leadership of "Hamas" and the United States regarding a ceasefire in Gaza, a prisoner exchange and the entry of humanitarian aid", a senior official of the group said, adding that the talks "are still ongoing".
"Hamas" said that "progress had been made, especially regarding the entry of aid into the Gaza Strip" and a potential exchange of hostages for Palestinian prisoners in Israeli custody, and a day later, Israeli-American hostage Eden Alexander was released from the Gaza Strip.
Disagreements between Trump and Netanyahu also emerged over Tehran's nuclear program. The Israeli leader has made it clear that he does not want the United States to make a deal that leaves Iran with any option to enrich uranium. According to Israel, Tehran is currently so weakened that now is the perfect time to completely destroy its nuclear facilities, and Israeli officials fear that time is running out to do so while Washington is negotiating.
In recent days, Netanyahu has also been disappointed by Trump's decision to halt the US military campaign against the Iranian-backed Houthis in Yemen after they agreed to stop shelling American ships in the Red Sea.
This happened shortly after the Houthis fired a missile at Israel, which landed near the country's main airport, "Ben Gurion".
In a video posted on the social network "Ex" and quoted by the "New York Times" the Israeli prime minister said: "I can't say anything other than that Israel will defend itself".
Netanyahu may also clash with Trump on the issue of Syria, as Israel's increased military operations, announced in defense of the country's Druze population, go against the US president's desire to "stop the wars", noted "Foreign Policy". Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, whom Trump congratulated in April for "taking over Syria", and his new Syrian counterpart Ahmed al-Sharaa, with whom Trump is expected to meet this week, will undoubtedly contribute to fueling these disagreements between Israel and the US, the publication notes.
The tension in relations between the US president and the Israeli prime minister has deepened days before the US president leaves for the Middle East, where he is currently visiting Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates. Trump is not scheduled to visit Israel during this trip.
However, US Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee reassured Israelis about the president's decision to skip their country.
"His first trip is about economic opportunities. That's the area he's focused on," Huckabee said in an interview with Israel's Channel 12, quoted by the "Times of Israel". "What he's doing is not because he's ignoring Israel. There are almost 200 countries in the world, so there are many of them that he hasn't been to yet, many of them he won't visit right away, but he spent more time with the Israeli prime minister than with any other world leader. I think that says a lot," the ambassador added.
For years, Trump and Netanyahu have publicly demonstrated a warm and close relationship and have repeatedly flattered each other, the New York Times recalls. People close to the two leaders say that in a sense they are kindred spirits, who respect each other because of the political and personal attacks they have endured during their careers.
Trump has accused liberals in his administration, judges and intelligence officials of conspiring against him. Netanyahu has accused the country's courts of blocking his policies and claims that his political rivals have organized the trials against him on charges of fraud, breach of trust and accepting bribes.
"The two have very similar DNA," said Mike Evans, founder of the Friends of Zion Museum in Israel and a longtime supporter of both Trump and Netanyahu. "They both have gone through similar experiences - Netanyahu with the deep state in Israel and Donald Trump with the deep state in America."
John Bolton, who was the White House national security adviser from 2018 to 2019, said that Trump has always viewed his relationship with Netanyahu as crucial to his own political support in the United States. "They both saw it to their political advantage to be friendly (to each other)", he said in a commentary on the two leaders.
But behind closed doors, there have been disagreements and some clashes for years, the publication writes, recalling that the American president has long harbored anger over Netanyahu's decision to congratulate Biden on his victory in the 2020 election, when Trump falsely claimed that the Israeli prime minister was the first world leader to congratulate his rival.
Israel has relied on American military and diplomatic support since its establishment as an independent state in 1948. Any weakening of US interest in Israel, which is facing international pressure over the war in Gaza, would be a major blow to it, Reuters noted.
Trump's predecessor, Joe Biden, faced sharp criticism from Israeli hardliners after he halted exports of some heavy munitions used in Gaza and imposed sanctions on violent Israeli settlers in the West Bank.
In contrast, Trump moved the US embassy to Jerusalem, which Israel considers its capital, and recognized the annexation of the Golan Heights, which Israel captured in 1967 during the Middle East war, the agency recalled.