U.S. President Donald Trump’s interest in working with Israel for the Middle East policy has seen a sharp drop-off with disappointment and burned-out patience.
Times of Israel reported that Trump does not intend to wait for Israel’s Netanyahu administration to take the necessary actions for a deal with Saudi Arabia, which signals a burned-out patience despite the months of major armament support for Israel’s military activities in Gaza.
This is not the only signal of the U.S. being done with Israel’s attitude. Following a ceasefire deal with the Houthi insurgents, a name close to Trump expressed dismissal towards Israel’s protests. The U.S. Ambassador to Israel, Mike Huckabee, stated in a TV interview that the U.S. needs no permission from Israel to sign a ceasefire with the insurgents and prefers to take military action only if U.S. citizens are harmed.
Prior to this dismissal, calls to Netanyahu were made to abandon the aggression against the neighbours and the attitude that can be described as looking down on them. For example, during a meeting between Trump and Netanyahu in April 2025, Trump said “Any problem that you have with Turkey, I think I can solve. I mean, as long as you’re reasonable, you have to be reasonable. We have to be reasonable.”, referring to tensions between Israel and Turkiye.
It later turned out that Israel jointly lobbied with Greece to block Turkiye’s possible acquisition of F-35A fighter jets in the wake of a potential for reconciliation between the U.S. and Turkiye with a new administration. Greek newspaper Kathimerini reported that the “be reasonable” response was to Netanyahu demanding a clear blockage of Turkiye’s acquisition of the fifth-generation fighters.
While this is not yet a severing of ties between the U.S. and Israel in Middle East policy, it will weaken the position of Israel in future U.S. plans in the Middle East.
This situation might become an opportunity for Turkiye to strengthen its position, with the newly appointed U.S. Ambassador to Turkiye Thomas Barrack (Waiting to Receive the President Erdoğan’s invitation to present the Letter of Credence) having expressed interest in cooperation in the security of the MENA region and, more interestingly, rare earth elements (REEs) to move the supply line away from China.
Author: Kaan Azman
Editor: Özgür Ekşi
