Israel Should Be Cautious: This Is Not the United States We Have Known

Trump and his team's unequal treatment of two countries at war is obvious. Russia is getting kid-glove treatment while weapons shipments to Ukraine are being halted. And Israel? It is trying to enter the steaming cauldron and pave its way with a best friend that changes its values every day.

One of Donald Trump’s significant election promises was to end the war in Ukraine “within 24 hours.” In fact, he began working on this aggressively right after he was elected. There were no results despite the accelerated diplomatic activity. The main reason for the lack of progress was Vladimir Putin’s unwillingness to compromise with Ukraine. For many months, Putin has been convinced that he has enough resources to manage a war of attrition against Ukraine for a long time to come.

With that, Trump is focusing his efforts on Ukraine as a weak actor that depends on the United States, with the goal of normalizing Russia’s status as a legitimate partner both in the economic realm and from a desire to include it in administering a new global order.

It is obvious that Trump and his team treat the two sides unequally. While Ukraine is being punished with a halt to weapons shipments and vital intelligence information, something tha in recent days has already caused irreversible damage on the battlefield, Russia is receiving kid-glove treatment to the point that Putin’s spokesman announced a few days ago that the White House and the Kremlin “are coordinating in a perfect manner.”

Recent steps by Trump, such as freezing military and intelligence aid to Ukraine, only strengthen Putin’s position and allow him to play hard to get. What hasn't Trump tried? He held a 90-minute phone call with Putin (the Biden administration had boycotted Putin since the start of the war in Ukraine); he initiated a meeting lasting 4 1/2 hours in Saudi Arabia between senior American and Russian officials without Ukrainian and European participation; he asked Russia to mediate between the United States and Iran on the nuclear issue; the United States, along with Russia, Belarus and North Korea, opposed a U.N. resolution condemning Russia as an invader and recognizing the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine; and last week, Trump and his vice president humiliated Volodomyr Zelenskyy on live television and expelled him from the White House.

What angered the American president was Zelenskyy’s attempt to explain that Putin’s word is not reliable and that Ukraine needs real security guarantees that Trump, at this time, refuses to give. For Trump’s part, economic cooperation with Russia could contribute significantly to the American economy, particularly in the energy and minerals sectors.

Putin quickly grasped this and proposed to Trump cooperation in oil drilling, rare metals, etc. The American press reported that Trump is interested in investments by American businessmen in the Nord Stream-2 gas pipeline that carries Russian gas to Europe, which is not functioning because of European sanctions and because of an explosion that occurred two years ago.

The message from Washington that Putin has moved from being an outcast to a legitimate partner was well received in Jerusalem, given that the Biden administration blocked efforts in the past to get closer to Putin. For example, America vetoed an Israeli initiative to bring Russia in as a partner in the Lebanon agreement, something Israel advanced by sending Israeli Minister of Strategic Affairs Ronald Dermer to Moscow. The moment the barriers were removed, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s military secretary became a regular guest in Moscow.

Israel is reportedly trying to convince the Trump administration to allow Russian military bases in Syria to remain, bases that were used to limit freedom of operation by the Israeli air force against Iranians, which used the bases to transfer Russian weapons to Syria and Hezbollah.

As if this were not enough, Israel is taking a far-reaching step at the U.N. by supporting Russian and American opposition to the Ukrainian resolution condemning Russia. The Israeli Foreign Ministry argued that Israel supports “the American effort intended to push forward efforts to reach an end to the war and a solution by peaceful means.”

It will be interesting to see how Israel reacts when a similar American request is directed at it to end the war in Gaza. Given recent reports that the United States is making direct contact with the terrorist group Hamas, which brought the Oct. 7 disaster on us, and against whom Trump promised “to open the gates of hell,” Israel must plan its next steps carefully, given that the United States is Israel’s strategic and irreplaceable partner. However, it is also clear that this is a different United States than what we have known. This understanding is already leading allies of the United States — Europe and Ukraine — to reconsider their relations with Washington while maintaining a sober outlook and suspicion toward Russia. Israel must learn from its experience and not trust Putin’s Russia and not depend on it.

Until now, the alliance with the United States was based on mutual interests and shared values, i.e., liberal democracy with all that entails. Since American interests and values have started to change, we must conduct relations with the United States with the necessary wisdom and caution.