Netanyahu's humiliation at the White House
While Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, in the shadow of his major domestic crisis, which has worsened with the resumption of the Gaza war, had high hopes for the results of his meeting and talks with US President Donald Trump at the White House, Hebrew media considered the outcome of this meeting disappointing for Israel and Netanyahu personally.
Anna Persky, a journalist and analyst of Israeli political affairs in the Hebrew newspaper Ma'ariv, said in this regard that Trump humiliated and embarrassed Netanyahu on live television and dashed Netanyahu's hopes for this meeting, but it is clear that Netanyahu will still seek to justify this incident and try to present this embarrassment and humiliation as an achievement. In general, the outcome of the meeting between Netanyahu and Trump and the feeling that Netanyahu had, can be summarized in three words: "surprised to the point of humiliation."
Referring to Trump's claim about direct negotiations between the United States and Iran, the Zionist analyst stated: While the official title of Netanyahu's quick trip to the White House was an attempt to convince Trump to reduce the tariffs imposed on Israel, it turned out that the main issue was not related to these tariffs, but to direct negotiations between Washington and Tehran. The truth is that Trump still believes in the diplomatic process with Iran, and this issue has worried Netanyahu very much, who has so far been unable to convince Trump that diplomacy does not work and gives Iran the opportunity and time to maneuver.
Nadav Eyal, a columnist for the Hebrew newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth, also described the scene of the Trump-Netanyahu meeting as follows: When Trump spoke of direct negotiations with Iran, Netanyahu at one point in the Oval Office gulped, looked left and right, rolled his eyes quickly, frowned, and then lowered his head.
He added: Of course, Netanyahu was not the only one who was shocked by Trump's words, and some of the Americans themselves did not know that their president would announce this to the world in the presence of the Israeli prime minister. The Israeli delegation also did not know before Netanyahu's visit to Washington that the Iran-US negotiations had become public and very important, and everyone understood this during the Netanyahu-Trump meeting.
This Zionist analyst emphasized: The only main axis on which Netanyahu achieved his goal in his talks with Trump was related to the Gaza Strip; Where Trump fully welcomed Israel's actions in this area, Netanyahu's performance in the war and the plan to displace the residents of Gaza.
Barak David, a writer and columnist for the Hebrew website Vala, also said: Netanyahu returned from the White House empty-handed, and the negotiations between Iran and the United States are still ongoing. This meeting was perhaps the most unsuccessful meeting between Netanyahu and Trump, and Netanyahu found himself in a situation that he did not think about and did not foresee.
He added: The scene of the meeting between Trump and Netanyahu was like a baseball game, in which Trump threw a number of balls in the field of political, security and economic issues vital to Israel, and Netanyahu was unable to deal with these balls each time. Netanyahu sat in front of the cameras and tried to maintain his composure and gently hit these balls with a smile. This situation is embarrassing and humiliating for Netanyahu and reflects his political weakness and the difficulty of influencing Trump's policies. Netanyahu's behavior also showed how dependent he is on the US president.
Barak David emphasized: Netanyahu hoped to return from Washington with an achievement such as the abolition or reduction of customs duties, but he left the White House with nothing. He also spoke openly to Trump about his deep concern about Turkey's movements in Syria and asked him to put pressure on Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, but he could not influence Trump in this regard either.