Is Trump Breaking with Israel?

Is Donald Trump really preparing to recognize a Palestinian state? The news hit like a thunderbolt on Saturday, amid an avalanche of stories claiming that Trump is angry with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and is changing course from his previous wholehearted support of Israel’s defense against Hamas and the other jihadist entities that are determined to destroy it. As is so often the case in such matters, however, there was decidedly less to the story than there initially appeared to be.

The Jerusalem Post picked up the story Saturday from the American news agency The Media Line. The distancing from the claim began in the headline: “Gulf diplomatic source claims Trump will announce US recognition of Palestinian state.” As the story unfolded, the claim became even more tenuous.

The assertion that Trump would recognize a Palestinian state at the upcoming Gulf-US summit was attributed to “a Gulf diplomatic source, who declined to be named or disclose his position.” This anonymous individual claimed that “President Donald Trump will issue a declaration regarding the State of Palestine and American recognition of it, and that there will be the establishment of a Palestinian state without the presence of Hamas.”

Just three paragraphs later, however, The Media Line quoted a person who didn’t decline to be named, denying the whole thing: “Ahmed Al-Ibrahim, a former Gulf diplomat, told The Media Line, ‘I don’t expect it to be about Palestine. Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi and King Abdullah II of Jordan have not been invited. They are the two countries closest to Palestine, and it would be important for them to be present at any event like this.’”

So what we end up with is one anonymous source indulging in speculation about what Trump will do at the Gulf summit, and someone else denying that speculation. The pro-Israel activist known on X as Brian of London said of the story that it was “Completly [sic] irresponsible for @Jerusalem_Post to run it and especially with that headline. The internet will go crazy over this s**t quote to a 5th tier news wire which is even contradicted by a NAMED source a few paragraphs down.” And indeed, online Israel-haters immediately began celebrating.

That was just one of a flood of stories over the past week that claimed that there was a breach between Trump and Israel. A Hebrew-language report in Israel Hayom bore this headline: “Sources close to the president: ‘Trump is disappointed with Netanyahu and has decided to advance steps in the Middle East without him.’” The claim was attributed once again to people who declined to be named, and who were identified as “two senior sources close to the president.”

On Friday, Trump’s ambassador to Israel, Mike Huckabee, responded on X: “It’s reckless & irresponsible for press to allege that @POTUS and @IsraeliPM are not getting along. Bibi has spent more time with @realDonaldTrump than I have in past 3 months & I’m his ambassador! The relationship between US & Israel remains STRONG!”

These stories and similar ones have been circulating amid a highly volatile situation. The  news went out worldwide that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth had canceled his trip to Israel, which was trumpeted far and wide as further evidence of a US/Israel rift, but then it turned out that Trump had asked Hegseth to accompany him to the Gulf summit, and the trip to Israel will take place later. A Friday Washington Post story concluded with this: “Huckabee denied reports that Trump was backing away from Israel. ‘I think the answer to that is an emphatic no,’ he said.”

There seems, however, to be a concerted effort to create a rift even if there isn’t one. Or those who are responsible for these false reports may be engaging in Lyndon Johnson’s old tactic. During a rough campaign, Johnson is said to have told his aides to spread a false story about his opponent. When they told him that the story wasn’t true, he replied, “I know it isn’t. I just want to hear him deny it.”

This wouldn’t be even close to the first time that the leftist establishment media has ginned up a controversy where there wasn’t one. At this point, there is no reason to doubt Huckabee’s statement that the US/Israel alliance is as strong as ever. Whatever happens at the Gulf summit, it is almost certain to bring yet more confirmation of the fact that the establishment media cannot be trusted.