The relationship between US President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is “diverging”, a former top Israeli diplomat has said.
When asked if Trump and Netanyahu were on the same page, Alon Pinkas responded: “They’re not even on the same book at this point.” The former Israeli Consul General in New York City said this was “evident in how Trump is talking about Netanyahu in the last two weeks”.
Pinkas also raised concerns over the lack of exit strategy for Israel’s offensive against Iran-backed Hezbollah in Lebanon, and pointed out that the conflict has become part of Netanyahu’s political campaign.
“There’s no end game from a strategic point of view, but there is a political game here. Netanyahu is headed toward an election. He needs to maintain a permanent state of war. In his mind, that’s the only thing that provides him with the chance,” Pinkas said.
Iran, Israel halt hostilities for now —
Iran and Israel said on Monday that hostilities between them had halted, after the two countries exchanged strikes that threatened to reignite the West Asia war. Netanyahu announced that the “fire on that front is contained” hours after Tehran said it had stopped its military action.
Trump had publicly warned Israel not to strike Beirut in its war with Iran-backed Hezbollah militants. When it did on Sunday, Iran responded by firing ballistic missiles at Israel for the first time since the April ceasefire. Israel then struck Iran, with which Trump has been engaged in weeks of high-stakes negotiations.
Meanwhile, Yemen’s Houthi rebels launched a missile at Israel and threatened to disrupt Red Sea shipping.
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