said<\/a> they do not trust the U.S. president to safeguard Israel\u2019s interests in negotiations with Iran.<\/p>\nA new Hebrew University of Jerusalem survey found widespread Israeli disappointment with the outcome of the Iran war and the subsequent U.S.-Iran ceasefire, as well as deep skepticism toward official claims of success. More than 92% said they believed Iran emerged as the war\u2019s winner, while nearly 83% said the campaign had weakened Israel\u2019s long-term security.<\/p>\n
The frustration over the ceasefire agreement is testing the countries\u2019 long-standing friendship.<\/p>\n
In a recent heated conversation, Mr. Trump reportedly accused Mr. Netanyahu of being \u201ccrazy\u201d and lacking judgment by risking torpedoing the Iran deal with continued attacks in Lebanon. U.S. Vice President JD Vance, chief architect of the provisional deal, in turn took an extraordinarily harsh tone in a news conference that shocked Israelis.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf I was in the Cabinet of the Israeli government, I might not be attacking the only powerful ally that I have anywhere left in the entire world,\u201d Mr. Vance said, referencing Israeli criticism of Mr. Trump. \u201cAnybody in Israel who thinks their biggest problem is the president of the United States needs to wake up and smell the reality of the situation that country is in.\u201d<\/p>\n
Ben-Dror Yemini, a columnist for Yedioth Ahronoth, one of Israel\u2019s largest newspapers, bemoans what he says is American capitulation: \u201cInstead of \u2018Make America Great,\u2019 we have gotten \u2018Make Iran Great.\u2019 … What has happened now feels like a red line, a turning point, because it appears as a betrayal.\u201d<\/p>\n
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U.S. Vice President JD Vance, with White House envoys Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff, from left, confer at talks between the United States and Iran, near near Lucerne, Switzerland, June 21, 2026.<\/p>\n
Lucy Kurtzer-Ellenbogen, a senior fellow at the Middle East Institute, a Washington-based think tank, notes that Israelis are understandably anxious about the U.S.-Iran memorandum of understanding, which is silent on Iranian missiles and notions of regime change, and allows Iran access to funds that could be used to strengthen its allies.<\/p>\n
She says the signals out of Washington \u201cdefinitely suggest a U.S. posture less committed to keeping differences and \u2018daylight\u2019 with Israel under wraps,\u201d she writes in an email. \u201cAt the same time, the swiftly-following U.S.-Israel-Lebanon agreement is perhaps a reminder of both parties\u2019 deep working relationship, and a U.S. aiming to be responsive to its ally\u2019s concerns, even if reconciling these two agreements will prove difficult at best.\u201d<\/p>\n
U.S. pocketbooks, Israeli security<\/p>\n
Dan Diker, president of the Jerusalem Center for Security and Foreign Affairs, a hawkish think tank, does not believe Mr. Trump has abandoned Israel, but has shifted focus to domestic concerns ahead of the U.S. midterm elections.<\/p>\n
\u201cAmerica votes through its pocketbook, and he is appealing to the American voters\u2019 pocketbook right now,\u201d he says. \u201cIsrael is paying a price for that.\u201d<\/p>\n
Dr. Diker argues that Israel\u2019s plummeting popularity, including among Republicans, has made criticism of Israel politically easier. Still, he says Israel cannot allow foreign political considerations to sculpt its security decisions.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re endangering ourselves by not fighting the existential war that we face,\u201d he says. \u201cWe need to fight that war and do whatever we have to do to survive. We\u2019ll worry about [any rift] if that happens. Nobody can fight for their existence and worry about what any other person is going to say.\u201d<\/p>\n
Meanwhile in Metula, Israel\u2019s northernmost town, an uneasy calm has settled in after months of fighting with Hezbollah.<\/p>\n
\u201cThings are quieter, but we are more worried,\u201d says Nir Zamir, a retired carpenter who returned to the area after being evacuated following the outbreak of the Gaza war in October 2023, when Hezbollah joined the battle against Israel in solidarity with Hamas.<\/p>\n
He compares the ceasefire to a dangerous version of a childhood game. \u201cTrump gave an order to hold fire and then everyone is standing in place, like in the game where they throw a ball at you and you\u2019re not allowed to move.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mr. Zamir says Israelis were well aware of Mr. Trump\u2019s unpredictability.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut as long as it was convenient for us, then we all loved him,\u201d he says, especially when Mr. Trump recognized Jerusalem as Israel\u2019s capital and secured the hostages\u2019 release.<\/p>\n
Asher Greenberg, who grows apples, plums, and apricots in orchards overlooking the Lebanese border, also refrains from heavily criticizing the U.S. president.<\/p>\n
His Thai workers have returned after fleeing when the fighting began, though only about half of Metula\u2019s residents have come back because of the shelling and anti-tank fire that continued until recently.<\/p>\n
Mr. Trump might be right to push for a deal with Iran, he says, as the cycle of violence could be endless. By giving both Israel and Iran a chance to reach an agreement, he suggests, Mr. Trump is \u201csaving us from ourselves.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Like many Israelis, Nuriel Zarif, owner of a popular caf\u00e9 in Jerusalem, once celebrated Donald Trump as Israel\u2019s…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":521490,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[85,46,43],"class_list":["post-521489","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-israel","tag-il","tag-israel","tag-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/521489","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=521489"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/521489\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/521490"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=521489"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=521489"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=521489"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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