If there was one leader eagerly awaiting to congratulate Donald Trump on his reelection, it was Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. True, their relationship had somewhat soured toward the end of the former president's first term. Trump had taken offense at the Israeli leader's swift congratulations to his rival, Joe Biden, following his 2020 defeat, viewing it as a betrayal.
This time, the Israeli prime minister was quick to applaud the "history's greatest comeback," even before the official results of the November 5 election, while his newly appointed defense minister, Israel Katz, enthused at the prospect of this "historic victory" constituting an opportunity to "defeat the axis of evil led by Iran."
In the Middle East, one of the primary issues facing the incoming Trump administration will be the war in Gaza, which has claimed over 43,000 lives. According to Israeli media, during Netanyahu's trip to the US in July, Trump reportedly asked him to put an end to hostilities "before he returns to office" in January 2025. While not constituting a concrete policy, this formulation rather suggests a tacit carte blanche given to the Israeli prime minister, at least for the next two months.
Publicly, the Republican candidate called on Israel to "end the problem" in the enclave devastated by the Israeli army, while accusing Joe Biden and the Democratic administration of trying to "hold back" Netanyahu. A way of suggesting that the Israeli prime minister would have a freer hand with him in the White House, even as he simultaneously called on Israel to "stop killing people" in Gaza, for the sake of international reputation. When asked during the first presidential debate whether he would support the creation of a Palestinian state, Trump responded, "I'll have to see."
The roadmap for a two-state solution, which Donald Trump presented in 2020, had been rejected by the Palestinians as it granted them a puppet state, truncated by Jewish settlements, most of which would have been legalized. During his first term, after a brief outreach to the Palestinians - following his meeting with President Mahmoud Abbas in 2017 - the Republican billionaire's policies were overtly favorable to Israel.
His administration moved the US embassy to Jerusalem, closed the Palestine Liberation Organization office in Washington, recognized Israel's sovereignty over the occupied Golan Heights, and declared that Israeli settlements in the West Bank would no longer be considered illegal. In his first tenure, Trump also pledged to protect Israel from any attempts at investigation by the International Criminal Court and cut US funding for UNRWA, the United Nations relief and works agency for Palestinian refugees.
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