Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s growing isolation became starkly apparent last week with the publication of a photo showing U.S. President Donald Trump shaking hands with Syrian President Ahmad al-Sharaa — a figure Israel has branded as “an al-Qaeda terrorist in a suit.”
Speaking to reporters after meeting al-Sharaa in Riyadh on Wednesday, Trump said, “He has potential. He’s a real leader.” The meeting, brokered by Saudi Arabia, coincided with Trump’s signing of several weapons, business, and technology deals during the visit.
Trump’s whirlwind four-day tour through Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and the UAE last week wasn’t just a diplomatic spectacle accompanied by massive investments. According to three regional sources and two Western officials, the Gulf tour sidelined Israel and highlighted the emergence of a new Middle Eastern order led by Sunni states, bypassing Iran’s crumbling “resistance axis.”
Amid growing frustration in Washington over Israel’s failure to agree to a Gaza ceasefire, the sources said Trump’s tour was a clear message of disregard for Netanyahu, a close U.S. ally who had been the first foreign leader to visit Washington after Trump’s return to power in January.
The message, according to sources, was unmistakable: in Trump’s vision of Middle East diplomacy — a less ideological and more results-driven approach — Netanyahu can no longer rely on unconditional American support for his right-wing agenda.
David Schenker, former U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs under George W. Bush, said: “This administration is very frustrated with Netanyahu, and that frustration is clear… They’re conducting business very transactionally, and Netanyahu is not offering them anything right now.”
Sources confirmed that while the U.S. will not abandon Israel — still a key American ally with bipartisan support — the Trump administration wants Netanyahu to understand that America has its own interests in the Middle East and does not want him standing in the way.
According to informed sources, U.S. patience is wearing thin not only due to Netanyahu’s refusal to accept a Gaza ceasefire but also his opposition to American talks with Iran over its nuclear program.
Netanyahu’s office declined to comment and issued no statements regarding Trump’s Gulf visit.
A spokesperson for the U.S. National Security Council reaffirmed Trump’s friendship with Israel. “We continue to work closely with our ally Israel to secure the release of remaining hostages in Gaza, ensure Iran never obtains a nuclear weapon, and enhance regional security,” said NSC spokesman James Hewitt.
Despite public affirmations of strong U.S.-Israel relations, Trump administration officials have voiced frustration in private sessions about Netanyahu’s resistance to American positions on Gaza and Iran.
Six regional and Western sources noted rising tensions between the U.S. and Israel even before Trump’s Gulf trip.
Tensions escalated when Netanyahu made a second trip to Washington in April, seeking Trump’s support for strikes on Iranian nuclear sites — only to be caught off guard when Trump opted for diplomacy, learning just hours before the meeting that negotiations were imminent.
In the following weeks, Trump declared a ceasefire with Yemen’s Houthis, opened dialogue with Syria’s new Islamic leadership, and excluded Israel from his Gulf itinerary — all signaling strain in the traditional alliance, sources said.
David Makovsky, a senior fellow at the Washington Institute and director of an Arab-Israeli relations project, said the U.S. and Israel “don’t seem aligned on the major issues like they were in Trump’s first 100 days.”
Gaza Exposes the Divide
During his campaign, Trump made it clear he wanted a Gaza ceasefire and the release of hostages before returning to the White House. But months into his presidency, Netanyahu continued defying calls for a ceasefire, escalating the war without presenting an endgame or post-war plan in the 19-month-long conflict. Gaza health officials say the death toll has exceeded 52,900 in recent days.
Any hope that Trump would use his visit to promote himself as a peacemaker or announce an end to the bitter war quickly evaporated.
Instead, Netanyahu — who is wanted by the International Criminal Court for alleged war crimes in Gaza and is also on trial in Israel for corruption charges he denies — doubled down on his goal of crushing Hamas.
As Trump wrapped up his tour, Israel launched a new offensive on Gaza Friday, killing hundreds of Palestinians in recent days.
Another Trump priority — expanding the Abraham Accords to include Saudi Arabia — has also been blocked by Netanyahu’s intransigence.
Riyadh has made it clear it won’t normalize relations with Israel until the war ends and a path to a Palestinian state is established — something Netanyahu refuses.
“He has no strategy, no day-after plan for Gaza,” Schenker said. “He’s standing in the way.”
Publicly, Trump downplayed any rift. In a Fox News interview after his Gulf tour, he denied being frustrated with Netanyahu, saying the prime minister faced a “difficult situation” due to the Gaza war.
But Trump is moving forward without him. Prioritizing self-interest unapologetically, the U.S. president is reshaping diplomacy around wealthy Sunni states, with oil-rich Riyadh at the center.
A senior regional source said Trump’s visit confirmed Saudi Arabia’s emerging leadership of the Sunni Arab world. In contrast, years of Iranian overreach and powerful Israeli strikes on Iran’s proxies — Hamas in Gaza and Hezbollah in Lebanon — have diminished Tehran’s role as a regional Shiite power.
“Iran used to lead. Now Saudi Arabia is entering with other tools: economy, money, and investment,” the source said.
The Rise of the Sunnis
Although Netanyahu led the charge against Iran, the new regional order is forming in Riyadh, Doha, and Abu Dhabi.
These Gulf states seek advanced U.S. weapons to defend against Iran and its proxies, as well as access to American semiconductors and AI technology.
They’ve found a willing partner in a U.S. president whose foreign policy often overlaps with his family's financial interests.
In Qatar — the second stop of the trip — Trump was greeted with royal pomp, gifted a luxury Boeing 747, and hosted with sword dances, cavalry parades, and a lavish banquet.
Trump declared that Qatar, which has provided substantial funding to Hamas, is “definitely trying to help” with the Israeli hostage crisis — a remark that hit a nerve in Jerusalem, where officials see Doha as a strategic threat funding one of their fiercest enemies.
Yoel Guzansky, a senior fellow at the Institute for National Security Studies at Tel Aviv University, said many Israelis “don’t realize how central Qatar is to the United States,” noting it hosts the largest U.S. military base in the region.
Despite Qatar’s links to Hamas, its vast gas wealth, financial clout, and diplomatic leverage make it an indispensable ally to Washington, Guzansky said.
The White House estimated that Trump’s tour secured over $2 trillion in investment pledges to the U.S. economy, including massive Boeing aircraft orders, U.S. defense equipment deals, and tech services agreements. Reuters tallied the public deals at around $700 billion.
In Saudi Arabia, Trump approved a record $142 billion arms deal with Riyadh, triggering Israeli concerns about losing regional air superiority if Saudi Arabia receives F-35 jets from Lockheed Martin.
Meanwhile, Trump offered the Saudis time to normalize relations with Israel, telling them they could do so at their own pace.
He is also negotiating a U.S.-led civilian nuclear investment deal with Riyadh — another move raising Israeli alarm.
Sunni-led countries are pushing their own diplomatic agendas. Trump’s surprise announcement during the tour to lift sanctions on Syria — a major policy shift — came at Saudi Arabia’s request despite Israeli objections.
Until December, when Ahmad al-Sharaa ousted Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, Washington had a $10 million bounty on al-Sharaa’s head.
Gulf nations welcomed Trump’s declared ceasefire with Yemen’s Houthis — part of Iran’s “resistance axis” — which ended a costly U.S. military operation in the Red Sea. That announcement came just two days after a Houthi missile struck Israel’s Ben Gurion Airport.
Guzansky, a former Iran and Gulf affairs coordinator at Israel’s National Security Council, said: “Israel is increasingly seen as a spoiler, standing in the way not only of the U.S. but of the international community, which is trying to reshape the region post-Assad, post-Hezbollah, and possibly post-Gaza war.”
Israel is Frustrated — But Silent
Israel’s right-wing government has remained diplomatically silent this week as U.S. President Donald Trump unleashed a storm of statements upending Israelis’ assumptions about their country’s standing with its most important ally.
Trump’s decision to bypass Israel during his Middle East visit is seen as a sign of his administration’s growing focus on lucrative business deals with wealthy Gulf states — including Qatar, a country Israeli officials have frequently accused of supporting Hamas.
Even before the trip, Israel was tense over U.S. talks with arch-enemy Iran and Trump’s decision to halt strikes on Yemen’s Houthis, despite the Iran-backed group’s continued missile attacks on Israel.
Israeli officials were sidelined as the U.S. negotiated with Hamas to return Edan Alexander, the last American hostage in Gaza.
Then came Trump’s announcement of lifting sanctions on Syria and a call to normalize ties with Damascus’ new government — which Israel regards as a barely disguised jihadist regime.
Even as Trump claimed credit for a Houthi ceasefire from Riyadh, Israeli media noted air raid sirens across the country — including Jerusalem and Tel Aviv — as missiles from Yemen headed their way.
Trump, however, brushed off any talk of a rift with Israel, telling accompanying journalists...
Comments