Posted by Alumni from The Conversation
May 12, 2025
President Donald Trump will sit down with the Saudi crown prince and Emirati and Qatari leaders on May 14, 2025, in what is being heavily touted as a high-stakes summit. Not invited, and watching warily, will be Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Like many other members of his right-wing coalition, Netanyahu appeared delighted at the election of Trump as U.S. president in November, believing that the Republican's Middle East policies would undoubtedly favor Israeli interests and be coordinated closely with Netanyahu himself. But it hasn't quite played out that way. Of course, Washington remains ' certainly in official communications ' Israel's strongest global ally and chief supplier of arms. But Trump is promoting a Middle East policy that is, at times, distinctly at odds with the interests of Netanyahu and his government. In fact, in pushing for an Iran nuclear deal ' a surprise reversal from Trump's first administration ' Trump is undermining long-held Netanyahu... learn more