The last few weeks have seen a lot of speculation that decades-old U.S.-Israel ties have taken an unprecedented turn for the worse. There are claims that U.S. President Donald Trump is on the path to dumping Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu for the sake of his "America First Policy."
The U.S.-Israel ties are not like other interstate relations, which can be explained through common international relations theories, but are rooted in history, religion, politics, strategy, economy and eventually are reflective of evangelical ambitions to control the world by all means. It would be imprudent to focus on some diplomatic anomalies while ignoring the core principle that has continued to dictate their ties for decades. Those who are claiming that Gaza starvation has trampled the pace of the U.S.-Israel relations are validating the psychological dictum that some people see what they want to see, and others see what is stopping them from reaching the truth. Here, the former, unfortunately, did not trample the latter.
What uncovered the long-held reality about the U.S.-Israel relations was Trump’s news conference with Netanyahu at the White House on April 8, 2025. In this meeting, Trump informed Netanyahu of holding direct talks with Iran, which was quite appalling for the latter, who has exhausted all his diplomatic tricks to press the U.S. for advancing and supporting Israel’s decades-old objective of destroying Iran’s nuclear program. For many, the announcement of Iran-U.S. talks belittled scholars such as John Mearsheimer and Stephen Walt, who in their seminal book, “The Israel Lobby ad U.S. Foreign Policy” (2007), documented the story of the formidable power enjoyed by the Jewish lobbies in the U.S. But one should not overlook the facts before going euphoric about the U.S.’ "abandonment" of Israel, because Trump has stated many times that the U.S. would bomb Iran if it does not enter into a deal with the U.S. In this instance, both Israel and the U.S. are on the same page.
Other scholars focused on the U.S.’ decision to hold direct and successful negotiations for a cease-fire with the Houthis, notwithstanding the Houthis’ relentless attack against Israel. One cannot ignore the fact that the decision was more driven by security concerns for Saudi Arabia and not Israel, because Israel is powerful enough to handle the Houthis. Before landing in Riyadh, Trump wanted to ease the fears of Saudi Arabia, which had its own apprehensions that the Houthis’ inability to attack the U.S. could mean they turn their missiles toward Saudi Arabia for its alliance with the U.S.
Did the U.S.-Houthi cease-fire reduce the death toll in Gaza? No. Instead, the days when Trump engaged with the Gulf leaders in mid-May were among the bloodiest since the withdrawal of Israel from the cease-fire. Similarly, direct and separate U.S.-Hamas negotiations for the release of American-Israeli soldier Edan Aleander angered Netanyahu but failed to stop the ground incursion and expansion of military operations in Gaza. The decision to go alone for the release of Edan was not to embarrass Netanyahu but to fulfill Trump’s dictum of "America First." As many had speculated that the release of Edan would prompt Trump to press Israel for a cease-fire in Gaza, but no such news came.
Interpreting the absence of Israel in Trump’s first overseas itinerary, unlike 2017, as a sign of waning Trump-Netanyahu love is an outcome of losing sight of the bigger picture surrounding the objective of Trump’s latest visit to three rich Gulf nations. The visit was never aimed at discussing Gaza or ending the genocide, but it was aimed at persuading the Gulf states to help Trump make America great again through investing in Trump’s empire and the U.S. treasury. He secured a $600 billion deal with Saudi Arabia, access to $1.2 trillion in sovereign wealth from Qatar and a $1.3 trillion investment agreement with the UAE, all benefiting the U.S.
There was a time when Israel needed the U.S. for diplomatic, economic, military and strategic reasons, and the U.S. needed Israel as an outpost of its imperialism. But today it is quite difficult to affirm who needs whom or who is dictating whom. Israel still needs weapons and diplomatic protection from the U.S., but today’s Israeli defiance and brazenness seem unprecedented. In the past, there have been precedents when the U.S. was able to impose its will on Israel, such as in 1956 when President Dwight D. Eisenhower forced Israel to withdraw from the tripartite attack against Egypt. Again in 1983, President Ronald Regan stopped delivery of F-16 jets to Israel until it withdrew from Lebanon, and again in 1991, George H.W. Bush was able to prevent Israel from retaliation against Iraq’s Scud missiles to unsettle the Arab solidarity with the U.S. But during the current Gaza war, President Joe Biden failed to stop Israel from moving its army into Rafah and only then, Netanyahu said that if Israel needs to stand alone, it will stand alone.
Amid these talks and divinations about the U.S.-Israel rift and hopes of further deterioration, a U.N. panel recently claimed that around 93% of Gazan children are suffering from hunger, and around 14,000 newborn babies could succumb to death at any moment. According to the WHO briefing of May 13, 2025, 57 babies have already lost their lives due to hunger.
The horror of hunger swayed Netanyahu to the extent of allowing some trucks of aid into Gaza. On May 19, 2025, Israel allowed five trucks of aid to enter Gaza while thousands of trucks are lined up on the Gaza border. But one does not know who is getting this aid, as it is being distributed by a joint U.S.-Israel foundation and global agencies like UNRWA have no say in it.
But one should not forget that Israel has always pursued the policy of minimalist aid to Gaza throughout the two decades of its siege. No doubt, the opposition against Israeli actions is increasing every day, but there is no relief for the Gazans who are still being killed. Who can forget Dr. Alaa Najjar, who lost her nine children along with her husband in an Israeli attack?
Throughout Israel’s genocidal campaign, the U.S. fully stood behind Israel and supplied lethal weapons. According to the latest data, more than 90,000 tons of armaments and military equipment have been delivered by the U.S. to Israel since October 2023. Today, Gaza is trapped between the U.S.’ blind support for Israel and Israel’s hunger for Palestinian blood. One does not need to possess the genius of Einstein to decipher the logic of the U.S.-Israel relationship.
