Editor's Notes: Israel just met the America that comes after Trump - comment

An editorial in The Jerusalem Post suggests that Israel is now confronting a new iteration of America, one that has emerged after the Trump presidency and is reshaping the US-Israel relationship. The author expresses frustration over a recent deal signed with Iran, describing it as a betrayal where Israel was excluded from negotiations and pressured to stand down in Lebanon, only for a deal to be signed with a regime that had recently targeted Israel.

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The deal is bad for Israel and for the entire free world.

Israeli officials, including Bezalel Smotrich and Itamar Ben-Gvir, voiced strong opposition to the deal, calling it "bad for Israel" and asserting that Israel is "not a banana republic." Former Prime Ministers Naftali Bennett and Ehud Barak also criticized the agreement, with Barak stating that Iran emerged "stronger" and Israel "weaker." Public opinion, as indicated by a poll from the Israel Democracy Institute, showed a majority of respondents expected the deal to diminish their safety.

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Israel is not a banana republic.

However, the editorial posits that beyond the immediate anger over the deal, there is a deeper shift occurring. For decades, Arab nations, Turkey, and Iran held a veto over the US-Israel partnership. This veto power appears to be gone, replaced by a more direct and robust alliance, exemplified by senior officers who described fighting alongside the American military as a future story for their grandchildren. This alliance, the author notes, did not exist 18 months prior.

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a historic failure.

The piece argues that the era of presidents who "loved us the loudest" but also "slow-walked our weapons" and pressured Israel on territorial concessions is fading. The author contrasts this with the current trajectory, suggesting that the future of the US-Israel relationship will be defined by figures like JD Vance and Marco Rubio, who represent a new template of "respect" without the "old devotion." This shift signifies a move away from a patron-dependent relationship towards one based on mutual respect, albeit with a different tone than previous administrations.

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the war left Iran “stronger” and Israel “weaker.”