Trump team takes hard line with Israel to preserve ceasefire

To preserve the Gaza ceasefire, Trump’s team has publicly taken a tough line on Israel. But will it be enough?

In order to preserve the fragile Gaza ceasefire, Trump administration officials are doing something no presidential administration has ever done- publicly taking Israel’s wayward leadership to task. A steady stream of high-ranking US officials have been traveling to Israel in order to keep Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his unwieldy government in line, and to ensure that they do not sabotage the ceasefire. US officials have dubbed this aggressive form of diplomacy as “Bibisitting”, referring to a nickname for Netanyahu.

Earlier this week, as Vice President J.D. Vance visited the country, Israel’s Knesset brought forward a law imposing Israeli law in the West Bank, a symbolic effort to declare an annexation of the West Bank. When asked about the law, Vance did not mince words about his vexation. He called the Knesset’s move “a very stupid political stunt” which he took as an “insult” to himself and President Trump.

Time Magazine has since released an interview in which President Trump declared that if Israel tried to annex the West Bank, Israel would lose “all support” from the US. Trump indicated that Israeli annexation of either the West Bank or Gaza was off the table because of his promise to Arab and Muslim mediators, who are likely to take the lead in the reconstruction, peacekeeping and governance of Gaza in the near future.

In the Time interview, Trump also acknowledged that he had to stop Netanyahu from continuing the war on Gaza, otherwise “it would have gone on for years”. He indicated that Israel’s strike on Doha, Qatar, in September was the turning point that forced him and the Middle Eastern ceasefire mediators to work together to rein Netanyahu in. Trump said the strike, which he called a “tactical mistake” was “so out of joint that it sort of got everybody to do what they have to do”.

Trump’s blunt warning to Netanyahu

Trump’s tough talk and his officials’ Bibisitting expeditions seem to signal an acknowledgment by the White House that Netanyahu and his government are the biggest obstacle to Trump’s goal of Middle East peace.

The administration’s current diplomatic show of force in Israel commenced after Israel carried out bombings in Gaza on October 19 that killed 44 Palestinians. This brought the number of Palestinians in Gaza killed by Israeli forces since the ceasefire was enacted to 97.

Israel claimed that the October 19 strikes were in response to a Hamas attack on Israeli positions in Rafah that killed two Israeli soldiers. However, reporting from Ryan Grim of DropSite News and others indicates that Washington quickly learned that soldiers’ deaths were caused by an Israeli bulldozer running over unexploded Israeli ordinance. Grim reports that when Trump officials told Netanyahu they knew what had happened, Netanyahu quickly returned to the ceasefire.

Earlier this week on Israeli TV, Israeli reporter Barak Ravid shared the blunt assessment he received from a US official. “Netanyahu is walking a fine line with President Trump. If he keeps going, he’ll f**k up the Gaza deal,” the source reportedly told Ravid. “And if he f**ks up the deal, Donald Trump will f**k him”.

Israel a “US protectorate”

During a press conference with Vance this week, Netanyahu bristled at the suggestion from a reporter that Israel had become a US client state. “Hogwash,” Netanyahu said. “We have a partnership, an alliance”.

Since Oct. 7, analysts estimate the US has provided $31.35 and $33.77 billion in military aid to Israel since October 7. This includes weapons deliveries to Israel as well as US military operations against Iran the Houthis in Yemen. Even before Oct. 7, the US provided Israel with billions of dollars in military aid on a yearly basis, as well as diplomatic cover. However, the US has largely avoided the perception of directly imposing its will on Israel itself. That has now changed. The increasingly visible US presence and overt US influence has contributed to a perception among Israelis that Israel has indeed become a “protectorate” of the US.

Since the ceasefire was signed, the US has set up a command center in an Israel Defense Force base and stationed 200 American soldiers there. From there, US military and civilian officials can monitor IDF activity in the Gaza Strip.

It’s still unclear how determined the Trump administration is to continually monitor and enforce the ceasefire. The US endgame is equally unclear as a sustainable political solution for Gaza still has not materialized.

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