The headlines across Jerusalem and Washington this week were understandably captivated by reports of a heated phone call where US President Donald Trump called Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu “f***ing crazy” over regional strategy.
Yet, while the public remained transfixed by the backstage drama of this apparent shouting match, the real headline was hiding in plain sight.
In an interview with the New York Post, Trump quickly confirmed the phone call, casually noting that he told Netanyahu he was keeping him out of jail, before issuing a sweeping historic declaration: “If there wasn’t me, there would be no Israel.”
If Trump is indeed interfering with the judicial system and Israel’s ability to carry out fair trials and investigations, that is an issue of itself, but the latter statement is purely unacceptable.
To hear the sitting American president claim ultimate authorship over the survival and existence of the Jewish state is nothing short of breathtaking.
It is an insane thing to say, particularly when contrasted with the harsh realities while Israel’s North is on fire. Tens of thousands of residents remain displaced from their homes, and communities along the border face daily bombardments.
Trump's claim contradicted US policy
The assertion that Israel owes its continued existence to a single American leader is not just flawed, but contradicted by the transactional and restrictive policies the Trump administration is enforcing.
Right now, Washington is unilaterally anchoring Israel into a highly restrictive ceasefire framework, micro-managing the IDF’s operational boundaries. Most glaringly, the White House has repeatedly intervened to cancel or severely curtail critical military operations in Beirut.
Hours after both Defense Minister Israel Katz and Netanyahu announced the expansion of operations against Hezbollah in Beirut, Trump picked up the phone and called it off to preserve his shaky Lebanon and Iran ceasefires. By tying Jerusalem’s hands in the North under the guise of regional stabilization, the administration is forcing Israel to accept a volatile status quo.
To aggressively restrict Israel’s sovereign right to self-defense while simultaneously claiming to be its sole guarantor of life is an irreconcilable paradox.
This policy of containment undermines Israel’s long-term deterrence. A ceasefire that leaves Hezbollah’s capabilities partially intact in Lebanon simply kicks the can down the road, ensuring a bloodier conflict in the future. By prioritizing immediate, short-term quiet over a decisive, long-term victory, the White House is compromising the security of Israel’s borders.
Trump's legacy as a friend to Israel
It is important to note that Trump has built a legacy as a profoundly impactful friend of the Jewish state.
During his first term, his administration shattered decades of diplomatic inertia by recognizing Jerusalem as Israel’s capital, moving the US Embassy, validating Israeli sovereignty over the Golan Heights, and orchestrating the transformative Abraham Accords.
Furthermore, his administration’s recent, heavy-handed diplomatic pressure was instrumental in finally breaking the deadlock to bring Israeli hostages home from the tunnels of Gaza, which was a monumental achievement that brought profound relief to a grieving nation. These are historic victories that the Israeli public will never forget, and victories that only he could achieve.
Yet, true friendship cannot be defined by blind sycophancy or the total subjugation of national pride. Harsh mistakes by a crucial ally call for equally harsh, clear-eyed words from Jerusalem. A relationship built entirely on the whims of an individual’s ego, rather than shared democratic values and mutual strategic interests, is inherently unstable.
When an American president reduces the miraculous survival of the Jewish state to a personal favor, it demands an immediate and principled rejection from Israel’s leadership.
Israel is not a client state, nor is its existence a commodity or a favor bestowed by Washington.
The modern State of Israel was forged through the tears of pioneers, the ashes of the Holocaust, and the blood of generations of brave soldiers who fought miraculous wars of survival entirely on their own. Its foundations rest on a three-thousand-year-old covenant and an unshakeable national will to endure.
American support remains an invaluable asset, and Israel must continue to cultivate deep bipartisan alliances across the Atlantic. But no single politician, no matter how influential, holds the keys to Israel’s destiny.
The Jewish state lasted long before Donald Trump ever entered the political arena, and through its resilience, innovation, and faith, it will still be standing proudly here long after he is gone.