For his part, #Netanyahu has privately expressed frustration w/some of #Trump’s policies, particularly over the president’s desire to reach a deal with #Iran. A right-wing newspaper usually aligned w/Netanyahu wrote this month that he thought Trump “says all the right things” but does not deliver.

…But behind closed doors, there have been disagreements & some clashes, w/implications for the situation now facing them.

#Trump has long harbored anger about #Netanyahu’s decision to congratulate #Biden on his 2020 election victory. Trump falsely claimed that Netanyahu was the first world leader to do so. At the end of 2021, Trump used an expletive while recalling the snub in an interview with a book author.

“#Trump is ‘what you see is what you get’ & rarely hides things. His default is to say what he thinks,” said Eli Groner, who served for >3 years as the director general in the prime minister’s office. “#Netanyahu’s default is to keep things extraordinarily close to his chest.”

…John Bolton, who served as Trump’s #NationalSecurity adviser 2018–2019, said Trump always viewed the relationship w/Netanyahu as critical to his own political support in the #US, especially among #evangelical voters.

Now, this moment is testing the relationship of the 2 men, both of whom are politically divisive, fiercely combative & have outsize egos. At stake is the short- & long-term #security in a region that has long been wracked by #war. Analysts in the #MiddleEast & the #UnitedStates say that changing the arc of history there in part hinges on how #Trump & #Netanyahu bridge their differences during a time of major geopolitical shifts.

…And there is even some evidence of a divide on #Gaza. #Trump’s emissaries are still trying to get a deal to stop the #war, even though he has largely supported #Netanyahu’s conduct…& has offered almost no public criticism of #Israel’s increased bombardment & #blockade of food, fuel & medicine since a #ceasefire collapsed 2 months ago.

On Mon, Netanyahu announced plans to intensify the war even as Trump’s envoys seek a new diplomatic path to end it.

This past week, #Trump announced an agreement w/the Iranian-backed #Houthi militias in #Yemen to halt #US airstrikes against the militants, who agreed to cease attacks against American vessels in the #RedSea. The news from Trump, which Israeli ofcls said was a surprise to #Netanyahu, came only days after a Houthi missile struck #Israel’s main airport in #TelAviv, prompted an Israeli response.

As #Trump heads this week to the #MiddleEast for his first major foreign trip, the president has, for now, rejected #Netanyahu’s desire for joint #military action to take out Tehran’s #nuclear abilities. Instead, Trump has begun talks w/ #Iran, leaving Netanyahu to warn that “a bad deal is worse than no deal.”

2 months later, in another White House visit, #Netanyahu sat almost silently next to #Trump for more than a half-hour as he expounded on topics having nothing to do with #Israel.

That meeting, in April, underscored a growing divide between the 2 men, who are increasingly in disagreement on some of the most critical #security issues facing Israel.

When #Netanyahu met #Trump at the White House in Feb, the 2 men could not have been more in sync. Trump had designated #Houthi militants in #Yemen as a terrorist org. They both spoke of stopping #Iran from acquiring a #nuclear bomb. Trump even mused about expelling #Palestinians from #Gaza.

“You say things others refuse to say,” Netanyahu gushed in the Oval Office, w/cameras running. “And then, after the jaws drop, people scratch their heads. And they say, ‘You know, he’s right.’”[no]