(June 21, 2026 \/ JNS)\n <\/p>\n
Amid great hopes and deep concern for the future of U.S.-Israeli relations, about a thousand people convened on Sunday in Jerusalem for the second annual JNS International Policy Summit, whose opening session spoke of \u201ca new era\u201d in that relationship.<\/p>\n
U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee acknowledged the concerns in his address at the conference, following critical remarks by President Donald Trump and Vice President JD Vance on Israel\u2019s handling of Lebanon\u2019s Hezbollah terrorist organization and disagreements regarding the U.S.-Iran Memorandum of Understanding.<\/p>\n
There is \u201ca high level of anxiety about the relationship between the United States and Israel,\u201d Huckabee said, but there is \u201can unbreakable bond\u201d between the two nations, he added, noting that Trump has said this repeatedly.<\/p>\n
Huckabee received two standing ovations from an audience that another panelist, Knesset member Ohad Tal of the Religious Zionism Party, said was \u201cthirsty\u201d for his words of deep friendship. Still, the conference also reflected the confusion and concerns that its participants felt, along with countless others who hold the U.S.-Israel alliance dear.<\/p>\n
JNS Editor-in-Chief Jonathan Tobin opened the panels part of the three-day conference, which is scheduled to feature a speech by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, with a succinct question to three panelists specifically about the U.S.-Israeli partnership: \u201cWhat is going on?\u201d<\/p>\n
The question reflected the confusion felt by many after Trump and Vance appeared to dismiss and disparage Israel, mere weeks after the countries\u2019 joint military operation in Iran, which Trump halted last month, appeared to take the partnership to unprecedented heights.<\/p>\n
Sylvan Adams, president of the World Jewish Congress-Israel, noted the contrast between Trump\u2019s initial rhetoric about Iran and the U.S.-Israel partnership, and his dismissive language toward Israel in recent weeks.<\/p>\n
Adams posited that the Memorandum of Understanding with Iran, which opens the door to releasing hundreds of billions of dollars to Iran in exchange for the opening of the Straits of Hormuz, is a \u201cplay for time,\u201d which will end with the resumption of a U.S. attack on Iran with the goal of regime change.<\/p>\n
\u201cDespite the MoU, I trust the president. He didn\u2019t lose his wits and courage to a bunch of Iranian pipsqueaks,\u201d Adams said, adding, \u201cPresident Trump is not a frayer,\u201d Yiddish for \u201csucker.\u201d Trump is merely \u201cbuying time ahead of the midterm elections\u201d and the 250th anniversary celebrations, he said.<\/p>\n
Adams related to the dismissive language that Trump and Vance used in reference to Israel, which Trump said may be replaced as the preferred partner for dealing with Hezbollah in Lebanon. With the midterms in sight, \u201cYelling and taunting Bibi may be popular in an increasingly isolationist America,\u201d Adams, a dual citizen of Canada and Israel, said.<\/p>\n
Malcolm Hoenlein, executive vice chairman emeritus of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations, told JNS that, regardless of what becomes of the MoU, the enemies of Israel and the U.S. \u201csee a breach right now.\u201d<\/p>\n
The U.S.-Israel relationship, he said, \u201cwill remain strong. But I worry about the perception of the leaders in the region who will look at this, and I don\u2019t know if they would commit to the Abraham Accords today,\u201d Hoenlein said. \u201cMy fear is that they won\u2019t see the U.S.-Israel relationship as solid,\u201d he said of Middle Eastern countries, \u201cand that they won\u2019t think they will get rewarded by coming closer to Israel in terms of American policy, and won\u2019t view this as a priority.\u201d<\/p>\n
Hoenlein, a veteran Jewish community leader who speaks regularly with world leaders, including in the Middle East, said he does not believe that the Iranian opposition is in a position to stage a significant revolution. The Iranian regime is \u201cremarkably resilient,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Forge new alliances<\/p>\n
Panelist Amiad Cohen, founder and CEO of the Herut Center for Israeli Liberty, declared pessimistically that the Muslim Brotherhood is increasing its political clout in the U.S. in ways that will impact the alliance, and Israel needs to find new partnerships in response.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe need to diversify our alliances if we want to act as an independent nation, and as an independent ally, if we want to really be independent, and to really be an ally,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Tal, the chair of the Knesset Israel-U.S. Relations Caucus, expressed gratitude to Trump, but expressed doubt that his successors will be as friendly to Israel, even considering the recent discord.<\/p>\n
\u201cNo other president ever stood with Israel as Trump did. We need to remember that. But we need to prepare for a day that another president will most likely not be as friendly and supportive as Trump is, so we need to be much more independent, forge new alliances, and prepare for future alliances,\u201d Tal said.<\/p>\n
David Wurmser, an American foreign policy specialist and a fellow at the Jerusalem Center for Security and Foreign Affairs think tank, described changing attitudes toward Israel in the U.S. as a shift that is more connected to internal American processes than any actions undertaken by Israel. \u201cThis debate over Israel isn\u2019t really about Israel, but about the soul of America as a civilization,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
At the conference, the CEO and Jerusalem bureau chief of JNS, Alex Traiman, announced a rebrand and name change for the news site, which has been renamed the Jerusalem News Syndicate, with \u201cJerusalem\u201d replacing \u201cJewish.\u201d<\/p>\n
Support for Israel among Christians in the U.S., in Latin America, and elsewhere around the world \u201cis being undermined, in large part due to disinformation and misreporting in mainstream media,\u201d Traiman said. \u201cThe word of God is truth. And among the vast sea of lies and disinformation, JNS strives to be a voice of truth.\u201d<\/p>\n
JNS Publisher Joshua Katzen jokingly thanked Trump\u2019s unpredictable actions for increasing demand for JNS commentary. The American president \u201chas been our No. 1 recruiter in the atmosphere of confusion and uncertainty. There are 1,000 people who have come here to make sense of it,\u201d he said, triggering laughter.<\/p>\n
Commenting on the MoU with Iran, he said that without good intentions, the agreements are not worth the paper they\u2019re written on.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis MoU was signed electronically,\u201d Katzen noted.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"(June 21, 2026 \/ JNS) Amid great hopes and deep concern for the future of U.S.-Israeli relations, about…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":504375,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[42,43,40,38,41,39],"class_list":["post-504374","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-headlines","tag-headlines","tag-news","tag-top-news","tag-top-stories","tag-topnews","tag-topstories"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/504374","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=504374"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/504374\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/504375"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=504374"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=504374"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=504374"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}