It would be a mistake to assume that Netanyahu dictates Trump’s Middle East agenda. It would also be a mistake to allow Netanyahu to tailor American priorities to Israel’s political and military actions in Gaza, Lebanon, and Syria.
Washington is no longer content with slow exhaustion; it has adopted a strategy of swift, symbolic strikes designed to recalibrate the international landscape.
Trump, grandson of a German immigrant, is particularly peeved at an independent South Africa, which was the worst example of a Western supremacist-cum-colonial mindset.
What perhaps remains unresolved, is how long the American electorate will allow Trump to reduce their country into a paranoia state, an empire of appalling tantrums and ragtag diplomacy.