‘Now we know who’s boss’: Trump humiliated after Netanyahu ignores him and bombs Iran

It’s darkly amusing that, despite every major U.S. political figure backing Israel to the hilt, Israel routinely humiliates them. Consider Joe Biden, who shredded the Democrats’ reputation amongst progressives by his full-throated military support of Israel, only to find himself thrown under the bus come election time.

Now it’s Donald Trump‘s turn to be insulted. Trump has made being Israel’s greatest cheerleader into a central plank of his politics: cracking down on any protests against the ongoing Gaza genocide, gifting them billions of dollars in weapons, and ensuring that even the mildest pushback by the U.N. is vetoed.

And what thanks does he get from Benjamin Netanyahu? Well, last night Israel launched Operation Rising Lion, a terrifyingly reckless series of strikes against civilian apartments and military facilities in Iran, apparently intending to stall Iranian nuclear technology development.

The thing is, Trump had been pleading with Netanyahu not to do precisely this, as his administration was in the midst of “very good discussions with Iran”. Just hours before the strike, Trump was asked about the possibility of Israel lashing out and said:

“I want to have an agreement with Iran. We’re fairly close. As long as there is an agreement, I don’t want [Israel] going in because I think that would blow it. There’s a chance of massive conflict. We have a lot of American people in this area, and I said “we’ve gotta tell them to get out because something could happen soon, and I don’t want to be the one who didn’t give them any warning.”

The Wall Street Journal also reports that Trump spoke to Netanyahu and explicitly told him that under no circumstances should he attack Iran while the United States is negotiating with them. Netanyahu doubtless heard that, chuckled to himself over how little power Trump has over him, and promptly hit the “Maybe start World War 3” button.

I thought we were friends!?

As a measure of how annoyed the Trump White House is about this, read between the lines of Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s comments on the strikes:

“Tonight, Israel took unilateral action against Iran. We are not involved in strikes against Iran and our top priority is protecting American forces in the region. Israel advised us that they believe this action was necessary for its self-defense.”

Or, to put it another way. “Ugh, jeez Israel what the hell? We talked about this and you promised. I guess we’ve got no choice other than to support you, but everyone has to know this has nothing to do with us”.

Many are increasingly wondering exactly what the United States gets out of being so closely linked to Israel. Sure, it’s strategically located and provides intelligence, but is it really worth the embarrassment of the world’s largest superpower being so casually shoved around by a tiny country with a population roughly the same size as New York City?