It’s likely that behind the scenes Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu received more explicit messages from Trump and his envoy Steve Witkoff than we have been led to believe took place, and if the president’s public treatment of Zelenskyy is any indication, it’s almost certain that similar pressure was exerted on Netanyahu to accept the president’s Gaza ceasefire/hostage deal.
by Aryeh Leib Shapiro for Vision Mag
By speaking publicly to Zelenskyy, as virtually all US presidents frequently speak to the leaders of weaker nations behind closed doors, Trump has once again removed the diplomatic mask from US imperialism.
US President Donald Trump continues to make waves on the diplomatic scene, this time by publicly berating Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy for his unwillingness to accept a US-brokered agreement to end the war between his country and Russia without sufficient security guarantees.
What was refreshing about the exchange is that Trump has once again lifted the mask off of US imperialism by openly speaking to Zelenskyy in front of the press cameras in the same manner that he and virtually all other US presidents frequently speak to the leaders of weaker nations behind closed doors.
In typical Donald Trump fashion, the US president spoke like a gang boss, making Zelenskyy an ‘offer he can’t refuse.’
Whether one views the Russia-Ukraine war as having been primarily driven by the ambitious expansionism of Russian President Vladimir Putin or by Ukraine’s determination to forcefully resist Putin (with advanced US weaponry), Donald Trump has made it clear that he has no appetite for this war and sees ending it as a US foreign policy interest.
Trump does, however, possess an appetite for Ukrainian national resources and has baked American access to those resources into the peace deal being rammed down Zelenskyy’s throat.
What can Israel learn from the televised heated exchange between Zelenskyy, Trump, and Vice President JD Vance, and how might it impact Israel’s ongoing multi-front war?
The accusation that Zelenskyy is ungratefully resisting a Trump-brokered ceasefire shines some light on the state of Israel’s war since Trump’s electoral victory in November.
Most Israelis and pro-Israel Diaspora Jews preferred to interpret the US president’s statements between the date of his victory and that of his inauguration that there would be ‘hell to pay’ if the warring sides did not reach a ceasefire agreement as a harsh threat aimed primarily at Hamas. They were thus shocked to see Israel pushed into an unfavorable ceasefire agreement less than a week before Trump’s inauguration.
This was especially disorienting for the many who saw Israel’s ceasefire with Hezbollah on the northern front, signed only three weeks after the US presidential elections, as meant to enable Israel to resume intense fighting against Hamas on the southern front with Trump’s full backing.
It’s likely, however, that behind the scenes Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu received more explicit messages from Trump and his envoy Steve Witkoff than we have been led to believe took place, and if the president’s public treatment of Zelenskyy is any indication, it’s almost certain that similar pressure was exerted on Netanyahu to accept the president’s Gaza ceasefire/hostage deal.
Like the war in Ukraine, Trump sees the Gaza war as a direct result of his predecessor Joe Biden’s weak foreign policy, and believes that bringing these conflicts to an end, or at least to a limited ceasefire, can restore Uncle Sam’s prestige in the international system.
But beyond gaining prestige and belittling his political rivals, Trump’s pressure on Netanyahu may go deeper.
It’s clear both from journalist Barak Ravid’s account of the Abraham Accords in his book Trump’s Peace and from Netanyahu’s autobiography Bibi that over the course of his first term, Trump developed the impression that Netanyahu was the primary obstacle to a ‘two-state solution.’
Had Netanyahu resisted this ceasefire, as some of his coalition partners demanded, Trump could have publicly lashed out at the Israeli prime minister in the same manner he did Zelenskyy. This would have likely sparked domestic accusations that Netanyahu was ruining Jerusalem’s relationship with Washington while creating a regional impression of Israeli vulnerability. And unlike Zelenskyy, Netanyahu doesn’t have a long line of European leaders rushing to reassure him that they’ll stand behind him.
But will Trump’s Gaza ceasefire hold? As Hamas demonstrates an unwillingness to negotiate the second phase according to Witkoff’s framework, and Secretary of State Marco Rubio fast-tracks a new arms shipment to Israel, does Netanyahu have an American green light to resume fighting with no holds barred?
In the short term, as Trump continues to pressure Zelenskyy and if and when Zelenskyy folds, the ongoing fighting in Gaza threatens to undermine the narrative that Trump solved a conflict Biden couldn’t and therefore, Israel might face renewed pressure to end the war and surrender Gaza yet again to either the Egyptians, the Palestinian Authority, or a US-led international coalition.
This should also serve as a warning on the northern front, where renewed fighting in Lebanon or expanded operations in Syria are likely to undermine Trump’s efforts to extend the Abraham Accords to Saudi Arabia. It’s likely that the price for American support in a potential Israeli strike on Iran’s nuclear program will be painful concessions in US-backed ceasefire agreements with Lebanon and Syria that could endanger the residents of Israel’s north and hinder their ability to return to their homes.
Israel’s best course of action, however painful, might be continuing to play along with Trump’s dangerous diplomatic game. If Netanyahu does play along, however, it’ll be important to accelerate domestic arms production during this period, regardless of the exorbitant military aid packages that the Trump administration might offer. Without becoming militarily self-sufficient, Israel’s continued dependence on American aid will remain a major weakness. We certainly don’t want to see Israel in the same position Ukraine is now in.
It’s also essential that Netanyahu continue to forge stronger diplomatic ties with regional and global powers independent of Washington’s foreign policy agenda. BRICS nations like Russia, China, and India may hold the key to both helping Israel gain independence from the US empire and creating viable alternatives for international support when the price of American patronage grows too high. While it’s essential that we remain alert and avoid swapping one foreign master with another, the alternative of remaining fully at the mercy of whoever occupies the White House is far more dangerous.
Ukraine doesn’t own the US. BIG difference.
ed note–Ukraine led by the Jew Zelensky is an extension of Israel and of Israeli policy, which includes neutralizing Russia and driving her from the world stage, and especially in the Middle East, and Trump just told Zelensky to go to hell, which is in effect, him telling Netanyahu to go to hell.
Rather than just ‘chirping’ some 7 word retort, why not first READ THE FREAKING ARTICLE IN ITS ENTIRETY FIRST and then maybe you won’t be so quick to quip something that as far as the discussion is concerned, is largely irrelevant.