Accompanied by Netanyahu, Trump traveled to Jerusalem, a city festooned in American and Israeli flags, to address Israel’s parliament. Despite being on holiday vacation, parliamentarians filled the Knesset to thank Trump and give him a hero’s welcome, with cheers and standing ovations.  

Speaking to Israel’s lawmakers, Trump promised that “this is not only the end of a war, this is the end of an age of terror and death and the beginning of the age of faith and hope, and of God. This is the historic dawn of a new Middle East.”

The president also warmly praised Netanyahu for “having the courage” to end the war with Hamas, while wryly acknowledging that the prime minister “is not the easiest person to deal with, but that’s what makes him great.”  

Netanyahu called Trump “the greatest friend Israel has ever had in the White House. No American president has ever done more for Israel than this one, and as I said in Washington, it ain’t even close.”

Amir Ohana, the speaker of the Knesset, told Trump that he and House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) would rally the support of world leaders to nominate the president for next year’s Nobel Peace Prize. “There is no one more deserving than you, President Trump,” Ohana said.

The Nobel committee recently awarded the 2025 Peace Prize to Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado, much to Trump’s chagrin.

Beyond jubilation of Oct. 13, however, Israelis understand that Trump’s support is conditional, based on what he believes is in the best interests of the U.S. — and himself.

On the one hand, “Trump’s record does indeed distinguish him as a president deeply committed to Israel’s security,” said Scott Abramson, a senior fellow at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy. “He supports Israel not out of religious conviction or ideological principle but for transactional reasons: Israel serves American interests. He sees the Jewish state as a force multiplier for American interests in the region.” 

At the same time, Abramson said, “there are some irritants in the relations between America and Israel,” particularly related to Trump’s respect for and reliance on Turkey and Qatar to keep Hamas in line. Both countries pressured Hamas to accept the peace plan.  

“Qatar and Turkey are American allies, but they’re also patrons of Hamas and are hostile to Israel,” Abramson said. “Jerusalem watched with alarm when, in late September, Trump received [Turkish] President [Recep Tayyip] Erdogan at the White House and hinted that he may sell Turkey the F-35 jets it has long coveted.” Israel fears that if Turkey, a NATO country with a large modern army, procures the super-sophisticated warplanes, it will threaten Israel’s military superiority.  

Israel was also concerned when, days later, Trump issued an executive order guaranteeing Qatar’s security, after Israel’s Qatar airstrike.    

Sara Yael Hirschhorn, a historian at the University of Haifa and a fellow at the Jewish People Policy Institute, said that Trump appears to feel a “strong personal connection” to the Jewish people, likely thanks to his daughter Ivanka’s decision to convert to Judaism. Beyond that, “the Oct. 7 Hamas massacre had a deep personal impact. It seems to have had a kind of instinctual moral pull on him.”

But Qatar, a country that provides a haven to terrorists and financially supports anti-Israel activism around the world, is key to American interests, Hirschhorn said.  

“The largest U.S. air force base in the Middle East is in Qatar. It is extremely important for the U.S. to project power in the region. It also protects oil, which is critical to the American economy.” The U.S. also has a long relationship with Turkey, an increasingly powerful country in the region. “The U.S. wants to see Qatar and Turkey as allies and not adversaries.”

Jonathan Conricus, a former IDF spokesman and senior fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, is also concerned about Trump’s increasingly warmer ties with Turkey, a remnant of the once-vast Ottoman Empire.  

“Turkey under Erdogan is on a war footing, driven by imperialist dreams of a glorious past. It is extremely hostile toward Israel. It supports terrorist groups and a very negative agenda in the Middle East. It manages a diplomatic and media campaign against Israel that strengthens its enemies.”

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If Trump decides to reward Turkey’s role in the peace process with access to F-35s, “that would be a direct threat to Israel,” Conricus said.

While Trump’s interests do not always align with Israel’s interests, Conricus said, “his actions show he is indeed a true friend and supporter of Israel, which he sees as an American asset and a reflection of U.S. military prowess and influence.” Beyond Israel’s military relationship with the U.S., which provides American jobs and allows the U.S. to utilize Israel as a kind of “battle lab” to test its weapons, “Trump has an interest in seeing Israel defeat its enemies,” Conricus said.

Michele Chabin is a journalist whose work has appeared in Cosmopolitan, the Forward, Religion News Service, Science, USA Today, U.S. News & World Report, and the Washington Post.