Israeli Army Radio has reported that personalities close to US President Donald Trump informed the Israeli Strategic Affairs Minister, Ron Dermer, that the US president had decided to cut off contact with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
The Army Radio explained that these acquaintances close to Trump informed Dermer that Netanyahu was manipulating the US president, stressing that what Trump hates most is being perceived as being manipulated.
The radio quoted an Israeli official as saying that Minister Dermer’s conversation with senior Republican officials, did not work because of his displayed arrogance.
This came hours after a report in the Israel Hayom newspaper asserting that the US president is “disappointed” with Netanyahu and intends to take “steps” in the Middle East “without waiting for him.”
Since the start of his new presidential term on January 20, 2025, Trump has offered diverse and unlimited support to the Netanyahu government, which has been waging a genocidal war against the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip since October 7, 2023.
Netanyahu-Trump conflict escalates
The Israel Hayom newspaper quoted sources close to Trump as saying: "We can clearly say that the relationship between Trump and Netanyahu has reached its lowest point." pic.twitter.com/QckvxxcBQu
However, the Israel Hayom daily quoted an unnamed sources as saying that “there is a decline in the personal relations and mutual disappointment between Netanyahu and Trump.”
The newspaper added that two senior sources close to Trump said, in closed conversations in recent days, that he has decided not to wait for Israel any longer and is moving forward with steps in the Middle East without “waiting for Netanyahu.”
The sources did not elaborate on the nature of the steps Trump intends to take unilaterally, but there is a complaint in Tel Aviv that Trump sometimes acts without coordination with Israel.
The most recent example is the ceasefire agreement reached by the United States and the Yemeni Houthi group, which does not include Israel and which Israel was unaware of before its announcement according to Al Jazeera.
The current talks between US officials and Hamas leaders in Qatar is certainly a deep wound for the Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu who had long promised that he would finish off the Islamic organization in Gaza for good.
Indeed, it’s a double-wound for Netanyahu and his extremist government who had been under an illusion, perhaps a strong word to use, that US President Donald Trump would long share the Israeli extremist objectives of taking over Gaza, getting rid of its people en masse, and end Hamas rule in the 364-kilometer enclave.
‘We’re the United States. We’re NOT an agent of Israel’ — Trump’s hostage envoy Boehler
Trump, especially over the past few weeks, had certainly given the Israelis that impression, especially when he blurted out at a devastating press conference with Netanyahu in the White House in early February 2025, that what he wants is to create a Middle East Riviera in Gaza that would include ‘voluntarily’ displacement of the 2.2 million Palestinians living there and swiftly end Hamas-rule. The president added what he wants to do is for the United States to take over Gaza and make it a top property front-beach development.
The whys, ifs, and hows didn’t matter whilst the details were left to be ironed out for later, while the focus zoomed on what Trump was saying which literally seemed to be straight off the top of his head as unrehearsed “blabber” non – certainly not members of the new administration – knew about as the new man in the White House dictated his shallow views and hearsay.
To Netanyahu it was music to his ears and he couldn’t believe what he was hearing. He just stood, smiled, glared and looked into the cameras pleased with his friend. To say the least however, he was gob-smacked and taken off-guard.
Trump’s bombshell announcement created an almost mass hysteria among the Palestinians, Arab world and internationally with people aghast, not knowing what to say, what to do and how to respond. Trump had then just announced the trampling on decades of international law – behest through the United Nations resolutions condemning Israeli occupation of Palestinian territories of the West Bank and Gaza and its heinous and vile military rule.
Enters Hamas in US thinking
However, Netanyahu’s smirk was soon wiped off when it became clear that Trump was offering him Dutch-courage support while directly talking to Hamas officials at the same time. The Israelis become livid, especially when they got to know about the on-going meetings through third parties and leaked sources.
Today, Netanyahu is in a state of a quandary. For the first time he is finding that the political strings and threads are no longer in his court anymore as was the case with the former administration and despite the fact Trump just unfroze the MK-84 2000-pound bombs to Israel which Joe Biden slammed on Israel in May 2024 and adding that the security of Israel remains his top priority.
But today Netanyahu has become deeply-troubled with what is being regarded as double-talk and double-dealing! The bombs supply were to be a palliative to what is being “cooked” behind closed doors.
In Trump, and through his team led by Steve Witkoff and Adam Boehler, Netanyahu is finding out that the new republican president in the White House is not an easy man and despite the strong Israeli lobby in Washington he doesn’t necessarily mean what he says and he is always looking out for America as the No. 1 interest. It is high politics trickery designed to get things done.
For the first time in this 16-month war on Gaza which Israeli started after 7 October, 2023, Netanyahu is finding himself in a corner, no longer able to pay just lip-service to the multitude of talks held in Doha and Cairo over the months of 2024 and which led to nowhere but increased the destruction of Gaza and the killing of its people.
Although Trump maybe a very good friend to Israel – a claim registered in his earlier administration when he moved the US Embassy to Jerusalem, a first-ever move by a US president and openly-backed the continued occupation of the Golan Heights, the businessman-politician is not interested in wars and has moved immediately to stop the three-year-old Ukraine war with Russia and now is dilly-dallying with Gaza.
The current talks in Doha are aimed to extend the ceasefire to be executed in three stages reached on 19 January, just one day before Trump officially entered the White House. While stage I has just ended, the Netanyahu government is foot-dragging, not wanting to move onto the second and third stage mainly because of ideological, domestic political reasons and his eminent threat of going to prison on corruption charges.
Netanyahu fears continuing the ceasefire deal would mean the end of his government that is controlled by extremists who want the war on Gaza to continue and have stated time and again that they would bring the government down if Netanyahu makes a deal that is less than re-occupying Gaza and stamping out Hamas which continues to be a fanciful dream.
Present talks
But the present US talks in Gaza with the Islamist organization that ruled the enclave since 2007, and under a tight Israeli siege that continues today, is creating a flurry of muted tense relations between Tel Aviv and Washington occasionally coming out in-the-open as was the case through a leaked phone call between Boehler, a new man in charge of the hostages file in the US administration and Israeli Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer, a close Netanyahu ally.
His protest was made recently by refusing to go with his Israeli team to join the latest bout of negotiations in Doha to kick-start the second stage of the ceasefire and release more hostages at their current number of 60 including one US-Israeli soldier and four American bodies that have been killed by Israeli bombardment and kept during Israel’s war on the enclave in the last months.
At the present time four meetings were held between American and Hamas officials with the last headed by chief of the movement Khalil al-Hayya. To say the least, Israel is irritated, angry, and dumbfounded and what is happening. Netanyahu is simply flabbergasted at Trump which he always regarded as a deep personal friend of him and Israel. He and Dermer had impressed on the US administration not to take Hamas directly but it is clear the latter has not and is not heeding to the suggestion and going their own separate way.
Through different media sources and to the annoyance of the Israelis Boehler has stressed that talks so far has been “very helpful” and indicated that a resolution of the freeing of the hostages held by Hamas in Gaza would be finalized in the next few weeks.
The world is watching to see how this intricate situation will unfold. The Trump administration is trying to play down their meetings with the Hamas leaders, but this is not working, especially as Boehler keeps talking to the media about how constructive the talks are going and the fact that these Hamas leaders are “pretty nice guys,” and these “guys are just like us,” as he recently told CNN.
The next few weeks will show more. When he came to office, Trump said that if Hamas doesn’t surrender, he would turn Gaza into hell. Judging from what is happening on the ground today such a comment is merely rhetorical.
The above-analysis is written by Dr Marwan Asmar, chief editor of the crossfirearabia.com website.
Trump’s hostage envoy, Adam Boehler said in a CNN interview that Hamas leaders are “actually pretty nice guys; guys like us.” He defended direct U.S. talks with the resistance movement, stating, “The U.S. is not an agent of Israel.”
Boeler’s statement was made commenting on a call by Ron Dermer, Israel’s Minister of Strategic Affairs and Benjamin Netanyahu’s Right-Hand Man. Dermer has reportedly made an angry phone call criticizing Trump’s decision to start direct talks with Hamas.
Boehler began negotiations with Hamas in Qatar last week. The talks focused on securing the release of Edan Alexander, a 21-year-old Israeli-American soldier prisoner, and the remains of four American settlers killed in Gaza.
Hamas reportedly told Boehler it is willing to return all Israeli prisoners in exchange for the release of Palestinian detainees. However, Israel has not agreed on the number of detainees to be freed according to the Quds News Network.
Israel’s Growing Concern
Israel’s Channel 13 reported that senior Israeli officials are angry over Washington’s approach. They believe Trump is negotiating behind Israel’s back and limiting Netanyahu’s ability to maneuver. One source stated, “If Trump reaches a deal with Hamas, Netanyahu won’t be able to refuse it, and the Americans know that.”
At first, Netanyahu dismissed the possibility of serious U.S.-Hamas negotiations. But as talks progressed, Israeli officials became increasingly concerned.
Boehler emphasized that meeting with Hamas does not mean friendship or alliance. He clarified, “I work for President Trump. This is his decision, and I am carrying it out.”
The U.S. reportedly told Hamas that releasing American prisoners would build trust with Trump, who could then push for a broader ceasefire deal.
Israel’s Channel 13 quoted Adam Boehler saying that Hamas wants to return all Israeli prisoners and free all Palestinian detainees in return.
Relations between Tel Aviv and Washington is it is becoming clear that White House officials are talking to Hamas. The US-based Axios website quoted an Israeli informed official as saying that Israeli envoy to the United States Ron Dermer, who is close to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, had a tense call with American hostage envoy Adam Boehler about the matter.
Axios political correspondent and Middle East expert Barak Ravid explained Israel’s concerns about the Trump administration’s secret negotiations with Hamas erupted in a controversial phone call last Tuesday between Dermer and Boehler.
He revealed that the aids of US President Donald Trump informed Israeli officials early last month of the possibility of dealing directly with Hamas, and the Israelis then advised the American side against doing so, especially without preconditions. However, Israel discovered through other channels that the United States was moving forward in that direction nevertheless.
No direct criticism of Trump
Netanyahu avoided criticizing Trump publicly since Axios revealed the unprecedented talks between the United States and Hamas last Wednesday, and has only said that Israel has made its opinion clear to the United States.
But hours after Boehler met in Doha with Hamas leader and head of the negotiating team, Khalil al-Hayya, Dermer did not hold back in expressing Israel’s concerns about the talks.
The American message was such a deal would go a long way with Trump, who would then push for a broader deal that could include a long-term truce, safe passage for Hamas leaders out of Gaza, release of all remaining prisoners, and an end to the war. The alternative would be a renewed Israeli military campaign to destroy Hamas.
Trump and his advisers had hoped for a breakthrough before his address to Congress the previous Tuesday, but found Hamas’s response inadequate.
Israeli Concern
The reporter said that while Netanyahu was initially averse to the idea of the United States sitting down with Hamas, he and his advisers became increasingly concerned as the idea became a reality.
Ravid quoted his sources as saying that Dermer objected to Boehler making proposals without Israel’s consent, and Boehler responded that the talks did not come close to a deal with Hamas, and that he understood Israel’s parameters.
An Israeli official claimed that Dermer’s tense call with Boehler prompted the White House to reassess its approach.
The site explained that when Trump’s envoy Steve Witkoff joined the efforts to reach a deal on Gaza in the final days of the administration of former US President Joe Biden, he suggested holding a direct meeting with Hamas to accelerate the talks, but that ultimately did not happen then, an Israeli official and a former US official said.
Pressure on Hamas
Trump and his advisers held a long meeting last Wednesday about the talks with Hamas, and decided that they needed to send a strong public message.
A US official said the idea was to pressure Hamas to make concessions and make clear that the US position on the movement had not changed.
On Wednesday evening, shortly after meeting with a group of the released hostages, Trump issued a new public ultimatum to Hamas to release all remaining hostages, describing it as a final warning.
On Thursday, Trump defended the talks with Hamas, describing them as beneficial to Israel “because we are talking about Israeli hostages.”
Luring Political Capital
Steve Witkoff, who is scheduled to travel to the region early next week, said the release of American hostage Alexander is the administration’s “top priority,” noting that he is wounded.
He said “good humanitarian action by Hamas” regarding Alexander “will get them a lot of political capital,” and stressed that there is a “deadline” for Hamas to agree to a deal.
Trump’s envoy said that if Hamas does not take a more “reasonable” approach, “there will be some action by Israel.”
Netanyahu’s manipulation of the ceasefire agreement and US complicity in extending phase one reveal Israel’s ongoing strategy to delay peace and continue its genocidal actions against Palestinians.
The three-phase ceasefire agreement between Israel and the Palestinian Resistance, while offering a fleeting glimmer of hope for ending Israel’s genocidal assault on Gaza, was never likely to succeed. Benjamin Netanyahu’s decision to break the ceasefire by blocking food and medical aid from entering Gaza—furthering war-crime starvation—was not a matter of “if” but “when.”
The ceasefire agreement was carefully designed to be implemented in three distinct phases, each to be implemented sequentially, with the oversight and verbal guarantees from the three key mediators: the United States, Qatar, and Egypt.
The integrity of the agreement hinges on the mediators’ ability to ensure that all parties remain fully committed to honoring its terms. Otherwise, what credibility would the mediators’ signatures or the mediation process hold if Netanyahu could simply demand to renegotiate an agreement that took at least 8 months to finalize?
Netanyahu is leading negotiations on two conflicting fronts: one with the Resistance to exchange Israeli captives for Palestinian hostages held in Israeli dungeons, and second with the racist warmonger’s wing in his government.
In preparation to break the agreement, and to placate his warmonger ministers, Netanyahu changed the negotiating team for phase two by replacing the heads of Mossad and Shaback with his alter ego, Ron Dermer, minister of strategic affairs. Dermer, who during a war cabinet meeting in mid-October 2023, told US Secretary of State, Anthony Blinken, “There won’t be a humanitarian crises [sic] in Gaza if no civilians are there.”
Talks for the second phase were scheduled to start the first week of February, but Israel did not show up at the negotiation table. In a desperate bid to buy time and secure American support, Netanyahu dispatched Dermer to Washington over a week ago. His mission: to sell the idea of renegotiating the current agreement and extend the first phase.
This tactic is emblematic of Netanyahu’s broader strategy— exploiting diplomatic engagements to maintain the status quo, buying time and maximizing the number of released Israeli captives by extending phase one before finishing his genocide war and ethnic cleansing in Gaza.
The timing is no coincidence. With growing international scrutiny mounting over Israel’s genocide in Gaza and the West Bank, Netanyahu is investing in Washington’s habitual deference to Israeli demands. By stalling negotiations, Netanyahu hopes to delay difficult political reckonings required in phase two, mainly ending the Israeli blockade and aggression on Gaza.
The Trump administration complied with Netanyahu’s request, pledging to dispatch its Middle East special envoy, Steve Witkoff, to renegotiate the current ceasefire agreement and floating an Israeli demand to extend phase one for an additional 50 days. Trump’s decision to heed the Israeli prime minister’s request so swiftly only serves to validate Netanyahu’s view of the US when he was caught on tape back in 2001 saying that “America is a thing you can move very easily.”
By acquiescing to Netanyahu’s maneuvering, Trump not only reinforced this perception but also risked undermining his own standing as a world leader. The pattern of deference to Israeli interests continues to resonate as a stark reflection of the bizarre dynamics in US-Israel relations, where America’s Middle East foreign policy is exclusively franchised to Israel and its Washington Jewish lobby.
Netanyahu’s latest scheme is a reminder that as long as Washington remains willing to be “moved” at Israel’s convenience, meaningful progress toward peace will remain unattainable. Rather than acting as an impartial mediator, the US continues to function as a complicit enabler, reinforcing the very power imbalances that perpetuate Israeli depravity and Palestinian adversity.
In endorsing Netanyahu’s demand to renegotiate the existing agreement rather than negotiating an end of war in phase two, the Trump administration is effectively empowering Netanyahu’s prevarications. This allows Israel to prolong Palestinians’ suffering while appearing to engage in negotiations. In reality, the extension serves as a tool for Netanyahu to consolidate his power amid domestic political turmoil, neutralize international pressure, and further cement Israel’s occupation and apartheid policies.
By backing Netanyahu’s decision to halt humanitarian aid to Gaza—Trump, much like his predecessor—kowtows to Netanyahu’s wishes. America’s willingness to leverage its global influence in service of Israel is a major factor in the increasingly rigid Israeli position, enabling a racist Jewish government more invested in maintaining the status quo than in seeking genuine peace. Israeli intransigence is not merely an oversight—it is a deliberate policy intended to maintain Palestinian dispossession, statelessness, and subjugation.
Israel has also violated the ceasefire agreement with Lebanon by failing to fully withdraw from Lebanese territory within the 60-day timeframe stipulated under the American and French-mediated agreement. Additionally, it has breached the decades-old ceasefire treaty with Syria, launching countless air raids and occupying the buffer zone and army positions along the border.
Israel’s willingness to violate every agreement it signs is not a failure of diplomacy—it is a direct result of enabling a war criminal who has shown time and again that his only path forward is through bloodshed. If the international community truly seeks an end to this genocide, it must stop treating Netanyahu as a legitimate partner in peace and start holding him accountable for his crimes.
By denying Palestinians their agency and as long as Washington remains beholden to an Israel-centric foreign policy—shaped by doomsday messianic Christians and the Jewish lobby—Tel Aviv will continue to perpetuate repression, sustain aggression, and ensure the failure of phase two.
– Jamal Kanj is the author of “Children of Catastrophe,” Journey from a Palestinian Refugee Camp to America, and other books. He writes frequently on Arab world issues for various national and international commentaries. He contributed this article to The Palestine Chronicle
CrossFireArabia
