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Or sign-in if you have an account.Israeli President Benjamin Netanyahu should have known it was only a matter of time before his supposed ally, Donald Trump, turned on him, writes Fr. Raymond J. de Souza. Photo by Joe Raedle / Getty Images / Jim WATSON / AFP via Getty ImagesIsraeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has learned what everyone already knows. Those who fly too close to the orange sun get scorched. President Donald Trump has signed a “peace” deal with Iran that guarantees the territorial integrity of Iran and Lebanon, but does not mention Israel except to demand that it cease hostilities with Hezbollah. Israel was not consulted on limiting its response to years of rocket attacks that have made part of its north uninhabitable.Enjoy the latest local, national and international news.Exclusive articles by Conrad Black, Barbara Kay and others. Plus, special edition NP Platformed and First Reading newsletters and virtual events.Unlimited online access to National Post.National Post ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition to view on any device, share and comment on.Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword.Support local journalism.Enjoy the latest local, national and international news.Exclusive articles by Conrad Black, Barbara Kay and others. Plus, special edition NP Platformed and First Reading newsletters and virtual events.Unlimited online access to National Post.National Post ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition to view on any device, share and comment on.Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword.Support local journalism.Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience.Access articles from across Canada with one account.Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments.Enjoy additional articles per month.Get email updates from your favourite authors.Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience.Access articles from across Canada with one accountShare your thoughts and join the conversation in the commentsEnjoy additional articles per monthGet email updates from your favourite authorsSign In or Create an AccountorFor longtime friends of Israel, the American turn against its ally is devastating.This newsletter from NP Comment tackles the topics you care about. (Subscriber-exclusive edition on Fridays)By signing up you consent to receive the above newsletter from Postmedia Network Inc.We encountered an issue signing you up. Please try againNetanyahu put many of his eggs in the Trump basket, and that basket is now being presented to the Iranians as a payoff to get the Strait of Hormuz open. Trump was admirably clear about that. The closure of Hormuz was risking an economic “depression” and American oil reserves were four weeks away from depletion.Forty years ago, when the Iran-Iraq war spilled over into occasional attacks on ships in the Strait of Hormuz, Ronald Reagan — for whom “peace through strength” was an actual policy, not a baseball cap slogan — sent in the navy to guarantee safe passage. A president who knew the difference between genuine peace and capitulation, between actual strength and vainglorious posing, between strategic thinking and incoherent logorrhea, could open the strait. Reagan was such a president; Trump is not.Failing to obtain “unconditional surrender” from his enemies, Trump has turned on his friends. Netanyahu must have known that it was only a matter of time, as Trump’s first vice-president, first and second national security advisers, or first and second and third attorneys general, could have told him. Or for that matter, Mrs. Trump 1.0 and 2.0.Trump belittled the Israelis, speaking of their partnership as successful, but that Netanyahu and Israel were a “very small partner.” And then Vice-President JD Vance reminded Israelis that they should be grateful for whatever crumbs fall from Trump’s table.“Donald J. Trump is the only head of state in the entire world who is sympathetic to the nation of Israel at this moment in time,” Vance said.That’s true, and Netanyahu’s military and diplomatic choices of the past two years made that calculation; international isolation was acceptable if he had an American president who would permit him a place in the Situation Room. He could outmanoeuvre that president into joining Netanyahu’s longest and most fervent desideratum — war against Iran. He got his global isolation and he got his war (twice). Now he is stuck with his president.In April, Vance boasted that ceasing arms shipments to Ukraine was “one of the things I’m proudest of that we’ve done as an administration.”There is a constituency in the toxic, antisemitic right that rejects American support for both wartime countries with a Jewish head of government, Ukraine and Israel. There is no reason to think Vance antisemitic, but he needs to keep an eye on that part of the MAGA coalition. By the time he runs for president next year, it is entirely possible that Vance might wish to be as proud of cutting off Israel as he is about Ukraine.The deal with Iran had one goal, to get Hormuz open so that the Gulf states could get their oil to market. Given that the military option was too difficult for Trump to undertake, that left only (temporary?) capitulation to get the oil flowing.Trump signalled from the beginning that his Middle East policy would shift decisively in favour of the Gulf Arabs. Recall that in 2017 he wanted to make his first trip as president to Saudi Arabia. The foreign policy establishment was aghast and managed to turn it into a grand monotheistic pilgrimage — first to Islamic Saudi Arabia, then to Jerusalem to pray at the Western Wall and onward to Rome to visit the Vatican.Eight years later, Trump had no desire for pretending. His second term began with a return trip to Saudi Arabia. No stop this time in Israel, even after the Hamas massacre of October 2023. In addition to the Saudis, Trump visited the United Arab Emirates and Qatar.Netanyahu didn’t take proper notice. When he launched an assassination strike against Hamas leaders in Doha, the Qataris made it clear to Trump that they expected action. Within days, he forced a ceasefire in Gaza upon a reluctant Netanyahu and announced a new defence pact with Qatar, giving to Doha what he refused to give to Kyiv. Then, to publicly humiliate Netanyahu, Trump forced him to call the Qatari prime minister from the Oval Office to apologize.Netanyahu swallowed it all. Defiantly, he has said he will not swallow Trump’s memorandum of understanding with Iran. He ought not return to the Situation Room anytime soon. He might be forced to call Hezbollah to apologize.National Post Join the Conversation This website uses cookies to personalize your content (including ads), and allows us to analyze our traffic. 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