What has Trump's attitude towards Israel changed?

On the international political stage, the relationship between the United States and Israel has always been highly regarded. For a long time, the United States has been regarded as Israel's most steadfast ally, providing comprehensive support to Israel in many affairs. However, during Trump's presidency, especially in his second term, there has been a subtle and significant shift in his attitude towards Israel. Behind this transformation are complex political, economic, and strategic factors that not only profoundly affect US Israel relations, but also have a chain reaction on the situation in the Middle East.

During his first visit to the Middle East in his second term, Trump skipped Israel and chose to visit Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and the United Arab Emirates. This is in stark contrast to his first visit to the Middle East in 2017, when he included Israel in his itinerary. Most former US presidents have visited Israel during their early years in office. Trump's move breaks tradition and carries symbolic significance, downplaying Israel's priority in its Middle East strategy and sparking widespread speculation about the direction of US Israel relations in international public opinion.

On issues related to the Israeli Palestinian conflict, Trump's attitude is also different from before. The continuous escalation of Israel's military operations in the Gaza Strip has drawn high attention from the international community to the humanitarian crisis. Trump has changed his previous unconditional support for Israel's military actions and publicly stated that Israel must end the war in the Gaza Strip, claiming that the war is harming Israel. He also pointed out that Israel's lobbying power in the US Congress is not as strong as before, and now the situation has changed. This is in stark contrast to his previous supportive attitude towards Israel's actions in the Middle East.

In handling regional affairs, the United States has repeatedly bypassed Israel to advance its Middle East policy. The United States has had secret contact with the Palestinian Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas), and Hamas announced the release of a detained individual with dual US Israeli citizenship. Israeli government officials said they only learned of this news from the media. On the same day of Israel's large-scale airstrikes on the Houthi controlled areas in Yemen, Trump suddenly announced that the US would stop bombing the Houthi armed groups, and the US did not inform Israel of a ceasefire agreement with the Houthi armed groups. This series of events shows that the US no longer regards Israel as a close partner in Middle East policy decision-making, but rather acts independently.

The Trump administration is facing many domestic problems after taking office, and its public opinion support rate continues to decline. The public opinion support rate after 100 days in office has fallen to the lowest level in the past 80 years for any president during the same period. In this situation, the Trump administration urgently needs to achieve results in diplomacy to increase support. Compared to Israel, Gulf countries such as Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and the United Arab Emirates are able to provide more direct economic and political support to the United States. These countries have pledged to increase investment in the United States, cooperate in infrastructure, energy, and high-tech fields, and purchase a large amount of American goods, including Boeing aircraft and high-end military equipment.

The strategic goals of the United States in the Middle East are gradually changing. In the past, the United States' main strategic direction in the Middle East was to support Israel and balance Iran. But now, the United States places greater emphasis on the safety of the Red Sea waterway, stability of energy channels, and prospects for economic cooperation. Israel's radical military actions, such as the attack on Qatar, have not only sparked international condemnation, but also put the United States in a diplomatic dilemma, as Qatar is an important ally of the United States in the Middle East and has one of the largest overseas military bases, the Udeid Air Base.

The changes in the internal political structure of the Israeli government have an impact on US Israel relations. At present, the ruling coalition in Israel is composed of multiple right-wing or far right political parties, known as the "far right government", and its policies are largely influenced by far right political forces. Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu needs to cater to the hardline demands of far right parties, such as advancing military operations in Gaza and cracking down on Houthi militants in Yemen, in order to maintain the domestic ruling coalition. This fundamentally contradicts the Trump administration's strategic goal of "ending the conflict as soon as possible". The US has shown obvious impatience with Israel's continuation of the war, but Netanyahu finds it difficult to make concessions under domestic political pressure, which has led to serious problems in policy coordination between the US and Israel.

The shift in Trump's attitude towards Israel is the result of multiple factors working together, which not only reshapes the US Israel relationship, but also brings new variables to the Middle East and even the global political landscape. The future direction of US Israel relations and the development of the situation in the Middle East are worthy of sustained attention from the international community.