Taha, who is based in the United Arab Emirates and specializes in strategic and political affairs, said Israel is America’s biggest ally in the Middle East. He argued that telling Israel not to attack Hezbollah in order to reach an agreement with Iran is like telling the United States not to hit al-Qaeda because it is negotiating with Hamas. He also mocked the reported 60-day deal, saying, “That is not diplomacy, it is a ceasefire with an expiration date shorter than a carton of milk.”
The Wall Street Journal separately reported that the relationship between Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Trump has recently become less friendly. According to the report, Trump is trying to push for a permanent end to the war with Iran and has criticized Netanyahu in several recent conversations.
People familiar with the calls said that in one recent phone call Trump asked Netanyahu about operations in Lebanon and told him, “Why are you blowing up buildings? Stop blowing up buildings.” In another call, Trump reportedly voiced concern about the war’s economic consequences, saying the global slowdown it caused could be compared with the Great Depression of the 1930s and might even be linked back to him.