The late US Senator Lindsey Graham spent much of his political career surrounded by two close friends: senators John McCain and Joseph Lieberman. The three came to be known as the “Three Amigos” and were tied together not just by a close friendship but also by their strong devotion to Zionism and Israel’s security.

Graham’s passing marks the end of the Three Amigos. Many Israel allies remain in the US Congress but few can match the energy Graham, McCain and Lieberman spent on securing Israeli interests on Capitol Hill.

The question now is: will the death of Graham, the last of the trio, impact Israel’s standing in Washington? To answer the question, we need to explore first what the notion of “standing” really means in American politics, oscillated wildly by Donald Trump’s ascent to the presidency.

During his first term, Trump was as bewildered about presidential power and his potential use of it as the rest of the American political establishment. He surrounded himself with members of various cliques: from right-wing strategist Steve Bannon and his penchant for a traditionalist understanding of international relations to former national security adviser John Bolton,........

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