Is Netanyahu’s Trump card losing its power in Israel?

Benjamin Netanyahu has long leveraged his personal relationship with the United States and his deep familiarity with American politics as evidence of his indispensability to Israel's interests. Having spent significant portions of his youth in the country and maintaining a distinctly American accent, Netanyahu has cultivated relationships with successive US presidents to secure unwavering support for Israel and his political agenda.

During the Trump administration, Netanyahu appeared to have achieved unprecedented alignment, particularly when Trump became the first US president to participate in a joint military operation with Israel against Iran. However, the momentum has shifted considerably. As the Iran conflict has lost momentum, Trump has demonstrated greater independence in pursuing Middle Eastern diplomatic initiatives without Israeli input, and criticism of Israel within the United States has intensified. These developments have prompted observers in Israel to question whether Netanyahu's traditional advantage with Washington remains as potent as previously assumed.

The timing proves particularly challenging for Netanyahu, who faces a domestic election scheduled for late October alongside an ongoing corruption trial and several unresolved regional conflicts. His Tuesday visit to Washington represents an opportunity to reinvigorate his public image and demonstrate continued influence with the Trump administration through high-profile meetings and photo opportunities.

Tensions in the Netanyahu-Trump relationship have accumulated since the Iran war commenced, following reports that Netanyahu persuaded Trump of the military operation's feasibility and the possibility of Iranian regime change. Congressional concerns have also grown regarding Netanyahu's apparent tolerance of Israel's increasingly violent settler movement, which has included the extrajudicial detention of a US senator. Additional friction has emerged over Washington's consideration of F-35 sales to Turkey and a nuclear cooperation agreement with Saudi Arabia.

According to Alon Pinkas, a former Israeli ambassador and consul general in New York, Netanyahu's visit serves primarily cynical purposes. Pinkas suggested that while Netanyahu publicly frames the trip around attending the funeral of deceased Republican Senator Lindsey Graham and discussing Iran, F-35s, and Saudi Arabia's nuclear programme, the actual objectives centre on reassuring Israeli allies and critics about the Trump relationship and potentially securing Trump's intervention in his corruption trial, referencing Trump's unconventional support for Netanyahu in November 2025.