{"id":2527797,"date":"2026-01-01T06:48:00","date_gmt":"2026-01-01T11:48:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/israel-bristles-as-trump-cozies-up-to-strong-men-in-suits\/"},"modified":"2026-01-01T06:49:59","modified_gmt":"2026-01-01T11:49:59","slug":"israel-bristles-as-trump-cozies-up-to-strong-men-in-suits","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/israel-bristles-as-trump-cozies-up-to-strong-men-in-suits\/","title":{"rendered":"Israel bristles as Trump cozies up to strong men in suits"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">22<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fisrael-bristles-as-trump-cozies-up-to-strong-men-in-suits%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2527797&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>President Donald Trump&#8217;s readiness too meet and cultivate relationships with authoritarian leaders has unsettled Israel, which worries his outreach could <a href=\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/3YuVZYV\" >reward bad actors<\/a> while reshaping regional balances.His past meetings with Vladimir Putin and Kim Jong Un and recent engagements with Turkey&#8217;s Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Syrian figure Ahmed al\u2011Sharaa have raised alarms in Jerusalem, where analysts point to Erdogan&#8217;s support for Hamas and Sharaa&#8217;s Islamist ties as direct threats to Israeli security. Israel is also wary of Trump&#8217;s renewed closeness to Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and the U.S. move to consider F\u201135 sales to Saudi Arabia &#8211; steps that could weaken Israel&#8217;s military edge. Trump has promoted normalization between Israel and Saudi Arabia via an expanded Abraham Accords, but Riyadh conditions such moves on progress for Gaza statehood while Israel continues settlement expansion. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/netanyahu-goes-to-mar-a-lago-as-trump-ups-pressure-for-peace-deal-progress\/\" title=\"Netanyahu goes to Mar-a-Lago as Trump ups pressure for peace deal progress\">domestic politics complicate matters<\/a> further: Trump has pushed for a pardon for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu amid his corruption trial, a stance that some Israelis view skeptically even as Trump praises Netanyahu as a necessary &#8220;strong man.&#8221;  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<p><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><\/p>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><span class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-button\"><i class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-icon td-icon-mobile\"><\/i><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><span class=\"tdb-header-search-button-mob dropdown-toggle\" data-toggle=\"dropdown\"><i class=\"tdb-mobile-search-icon td-icon-search\"><\/i><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><span class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-button\"><i class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-icon td-icon-mobile\"><\/i><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<div class=\"tdb-drop-down-search\" aria-labelledby=\"td-header-search-button\">\n<div class=\"tdb-drop-down-search-inner\">\n<form method=\"get\" class=\"tdb-search-form\" action=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/\"><\/form>\n<div class=\"tdb-aj-search\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/#\" role=\"button\" aria-label=\"Search\" class=\"tdb-head-search-btn dropdown-toggle\" data-toggle=\"dropdown\"><i class=\"tdb-search-icon td-icon-search\"><\/i><\/a><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<h1 class=\"tdb-title-text\">Israel bristles as Trump cozies up to strong men in suits<\/h1>\n<div><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-title-line\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<div id=\"Brid_2459745\" class=\"tpd-featured-video bridtv\"><\/div>\n<p><strong>TEL AVIV, Israel &ndash; <\/strong>President <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/donald-trump\/\">Donald Trump<\/a>&rsquo;s willingness to sit down with any world leader, even dictators, has allies, such as <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/israel\/\">Israel<\/a>, on edge.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Trump&rsquo;s untraditional approach to diplomacy has been criticized for rewarding bad behavior from the likes of Russian President <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/vladimir-putin\/\">Vladimir Putin<\/a>, with the pair meeting last summer in Alaska, to North Korean strongman <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/kim-jong-un\/\">Kim Jong Un<\/a> during his first administration.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<div class=\"recommended-stories\">\n<h2>Recommended Stories<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/white-house\/4379310\/trump-slams-rigged-polling-data-claims-real-approval-over-60\/\">Trump slams &#8216;rigged&#8217; polling data, claims &#8216;real&#8217; approval is over 60%<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/white-house\/4379309\/trump-national-guard-withdrawal-chicago-los-angeles-portland\/\">Trump withdraws National Guard from Chicago, LA, and Portland despite &#8216;greatly reduced&#8217; crime<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/white-house\/4379181\/trump-colorado-governor-district-attorney-rot-in-hell-tina-peters-incarceration\/\">Trump tells Colorado governor and district attorney to &#8216;rot in Hell&#8217; over Tina Peters incarceration<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"article-paywall\">\n<p>At the same time, it has created opportunities for cooperation and partnerships as Trump, for example, puts pressure on other countries for <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/trade\/\">trade<\/a> deals, <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/defense\/\">military<\/a> purchases, and natural resource agreements.<\/p>\n<p>Trump, again, demonstrated his unorthodox diplomatic approach this week when he welcomed Israeli Prime Minister <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/benjamin-netanyahu\/\">Benjamin Netanyahu <\/a>to the &lsquo;winter <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/white-house\/\">White House<\/a>&lsquo;, his Mar-a-Lago private club in Palm Beach, Florida.<\/p>\n<p>Israel has become increasingly concerned about Trump&rsquo;s relationship with Turkish President <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/recep-tayyip-erdogan\/\">Recep Tayyip Erdogan<\/a>. In October, the Turkish leader proposed taking a leadership role in the international stabilization force that Trump hopes to have in <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/gaza\/\">Gaza<\/a> following the Israel-<a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/hamas\/\">Hamas<\/a> war. Erdogan has also appealed to Trump regarding the restart of the sale of F-35 stealth fighter jets to <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/turkey\/\">Turkey<\/a>.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Sales were stopped in 2019 after Turkey purchased the S-400 missile system from <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/russia\/\">Russia<\/a>, helping preserve Israel&rsquo;s military advantage in the region.<\/p>\n<p>Israel&rsquo;s concerns about Erdogan stem from his past support of more extreme forms of Islam, the imprisonment of political opponents, and other democratic backsliding.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;I know President Erdogan very well and, as you all know, he&rsquo;s a very good friend of mine,&rdquo; Trump said alongside Netanyahu this week. &ldquo;I do respect him, and Bibi respects him, and they&rsquo;re not going to have a problem.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>Trump&rsquo;s relationship with Erdogan has also been pivotal in the shaping of U.S. foreign policy toward <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/syria\/\">Syria<\/a>. In June, Trump announced sanctions against Syria. Last month, he hosted Syrian President <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/ahmed-al-sharaa\/\">Ahmed al Sharaa<\/a>, a former <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/al-qaeda\/\">al Qaeda <\/a>jihadist who last December pushed dictator <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/bashar-assad\/\">Bashar al-Assad<\/a> out of power, to the White House.<\/p>\n<p>Israel is similarly concerned that Sharaa continues to be inspired by Islamic extremism and reports of ethnic minority massacres within the country.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;Now with Syria, you know, your new president,&rdquo; Trump said on Monday. &ldquo;I respect him. He&rsquo;s a very strong guy, and that&rsquo;s what you need in Syria. You can&rsquo;t put a choir boy. You can&rsquo;t put somebody that&rsquo;s a perfect person, everything&rsquo;s nice, no problems in life. You have the opposite there.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>The president added: &ldquo;I&rsquo;m sure that Israel and him will get along. I will try and make it so that they do get along.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>During a press briefing in Tel Aviv, Israel, Gallia Lindenstrauss, a Turkey analyst at the Institute for National Security Studies, said &ldquo;it feels like Turkey is closing on [Israel]  from two sides&rdquo; &ndash; from Gaza and Syria.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;Turkey is seen as a biased actor,&rdquo; Lindenstrauss said. &ldquo;Turkey is supportive of Hamas, has been very consistent in its support of Hamas since 2006, wants to see Hamas remain dominant, or at least behind the scenes in Gaza, the day after, and, hence, is not aligned with the interest of weakening Hamas and dismantling it.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>She continued: &ldquo;Turkey is not doing anything to relax Israel&rsquo;s anxieties on the issue. On the contrary, you see on a weekly basis, or even sometimes on a daily basis, critical remarks, and even sometimes very vicious remarks, coming out of Erdogan with regards to Israel.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>Speaking from Migdal Tefen, Israel, near the Lebanon border, Sarit Zehavi, president and founder of Alma Northern Research Center, conveyed concerns about Syria&rsquo;s Sharaa to the <em>Washington Examiner<\/em> earlier this month.<\/p>\n<p>During a separate briefing by Sarit Zehavi, founder and president of Alma Northern Research Center, in Migdal Tefen, Israel, near the Lebanon border, Zehavi conveyed concerns about Sharaa to the <em>Washington Examiner.<\/em><\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;Who are you? Dr. Jekyll or Mr. Hyde,&rdquo; Zehavi, questioning whether he is the terrorist of the past or the man who met Trump at the White House. &ldquo;He is not the guy you all think he is. The tie is just a tie. It doesn&rsquo;t mean anything. He&rsquo;s building an Islamist state in Syria.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>Israel is concerned, too, about Trump&rsquo;s relationship with <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/saudi-arabia\/\">Saudi Arabia,<\/a> which the president honored with the first <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/trump-downplays-khashoggi-murder-as-he-fetes-saudi-prince\/\" title=\"Trump downplays Khashoggi murder as he fetes Saudi prince\">pseudo-state dinner<\/a> of his second term in November.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>During Saudi Crown Prince <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/mohammed-bin-salman\/\">Mohammed bin Salman<\/a>&rsquo;s trip to the White House, Trump announced the U.S. would sell F-35s to Saudi Arabia, again, undermining Israel&rsquo;s military dominance.<\/p>\n<p>In addition, Trump has been advocating in support of Israel and Saudi Arabia signing on to his Abraham Accords, which would normalize relations between the two countries.<\/p>\n<p>Regardless, Saudi Arabia has promised not to do so until Gaza receives statehood, as Israel simultaneously expands its Jewish settlements in the <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/west-bank\/\">West Bank<\/a>, decreasing the likelihood of a two-state solution any time soon.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;Saudi Arabia is great,&rdquo; Trump said Monday. &ldquo;We have a great leader and friend of mine, and a friend of a lot of people, also an enemy of some people, but those <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/kamala-harriss-rushed-campaign-plays-in-her-favor-democratic-strategists-washington-examiner\/\" title=\"Kamala Harris\u2019s rushed campaign plays in her favor: Democratic strategists - ...\">people aren&#038;rsquo<\/a>;t doing so well, though.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>He went on saying, &ldquo;They&rsquo;re getting along great with Israel. They will, and at some point they&rsquo;ll sign the Abraham Accords.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>In response to a question from the <em>Washington Examiner<\/em>, MK Amit Halevi, a member&nbsp;of Netanyahu&rsquo;s Likud Party in the Israeli parliament, the Knesset, expressed frustration with the West&rsquo;s reaction to Israel&rsquo;s concerns.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;It&rsquo;s not Israel&rsquo;s problem in my eyes,&rdquo; Halevi said. &ldquo;Today the Jews [are] paying the biggest price, and they are the first to pay the price all over the history. But it will not end with the Jews.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>In spite of Israel&rsquo;s complaints, Netanyahu&rsquo;s own leadership has been criticized as he contends with a corruption trial from which Trump is endeavoring to secure the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/uk-govt-lockdown-to-last-12-months-expect-repeated-vaccinations\/\" title=\"UK Govt: Lockdown to Last 12+ Months, Expect Repeated Vaccinations\">prime minister<\/a> a pardon.<\/p>\n<p><a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/policy\/foreign-policy\/4365098\/trump-risks-popularity-israel-netanyahu-pardon\/\"><strong>TRUMP RISKS POPULARITY IN ISRAEL WITH NETANYAHU PARDON PUSH<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;It&rsquo;s very important who the prime minister and president of Israel are,&rdquo; Trump said on Monday. &ldquo;Bibi&rsquo;s a strong man. He can be very difficult on occasion, but you need a strong man. If you had a weak man, you wouldn&rsquo;t have Israel.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Israel uneasy over Trump cozying with autocrats<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2652,"featured_media":2527798,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/AP25363756466367.jpg?w=696","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[54226,4671,32726,3634,36408],"class_list":["post-2527797","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-authoritarianism-2","tag-israel","tag-middle-east","tag-trump","tag-us-foreign-policy"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/AP25363756466367.jpg?w=696","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2527797","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2652"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2527797"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2527797\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2527801,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2527797\/revisions\/2527801"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2527798"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2527797"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2527797"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2527797"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}