(Worthy Insights) – Since arriving in the Persian Gulf this week, President Donald Trump has engaged in a flurry of regional diplomacy that in many cases has appeared to sideline Israel’s national security interests.
In an address to an investment forum in Riyadh on Tuesday, Trump called for an end to Israel’s “horrible” war against Hamas “as quickly as possible” and announced the lifting of U.S. sanctions on Syria’s Islamist-led government—after Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu reportedly asked him not to do so. On Wednesday, Trump outlined a softened U.S. position in ongoing negotiations with Iran over its nuclear program, making no mention of past demands, echoed by Israel, that the regime dismantle its facilities entirely. Trump then met with Syrian president Ahmed al-Sharaa, a former Al Qaeda terrorist whom Israeli officials have continued to refer to as a jihadist, and later praised al-Sharaa as a “young, attractive guy. Tough guy. Strong past. Very strong past. Fighter.”
Trump’s freewheeling Persian Gulf tour continues a string of recent moves that the president has made in the Middle East with little apparent regard for Israel’s wishes—and in some cases, in direct opposition to them. But both Israeli and U.S. officials have denied talk of a growing rift, and the two countries have remained directionally aligned against Iran’s “axis of resistance.” [ Source (Read More…) ]