Netanyahu scrambles as Trump skips Israel visit, gap widens on Gaza, Iran
Despite pleas on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s part, President Donald Trump will not pass through Israel during his Gulf tour.
TEL AVIV — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu clearly looked ahead at Donald Trump’s presidency with a mixture of trepidation and hope. But even in his worst nightmares, he never imagined that the president of the United States, whom Israel billed as its greatest White House friend, would conduct a multi-stop trip to the Middle East, skirting Israel.
Trump’s swing through Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates, with a stop in Turkey under consideration and possible meetings in the hosting capitals with Palestinian and Syrian leaders Mahmoud Abbas and Ahmed al-Sharaa, highlight his sidelining of Israel’s beleaguered premier.
Pleas to the White House by Israel’s US Ambassador Yechiel Leiter to include even a lightning Trump stop in Israel were ignored, as were suggestions of inviting Netanyahu to meet Trump at one of his regional visit destinations. Israel is clearly not a player in Trump’s vision of his tour — it has little to offer him, neither multibillion-dollar contracts nor a strategic peace bonanza.
Fall from grace
