What’s the opposite of a “bear hug”?

That was the phrase often used to describe President Joe Biden’s approach to Israel since the October 7, 2023 attacks: publicly and enthusiastically backing Israel, particularly when it comes to its wider regional conflict with Iran and its proxies, while quietly trying to restrain Israel’s actions in Gaza.

Now President Donald Trump is traveling through the Middle East this week for a multi-country tour and dealmaking bonanza that pointedly does not include a stop in Israel. (Trump has denied the snub, saying his trip is “very good for Israel.”)

The trip is the latest example of how Trump’s approach to the country often seems like a mirror image of his predecessor’s: he has little interest in restraining or pressuring Israel on its war in Gaza, but perhaps even less interest in supporting Israel on wider regional issues or aligning the two countries’ approach to the region.

This is still an administration that is fiercely “pro-Israel” in rhetoric and in its willingness to punish Israel’s critics in America. But in practice, as he conducts his foreign policy, Trump seems remarkably unconcerned about what Israel has to say about it.

“The one message that’s consistent [from Trump] is ‘I have plans for the region. You’re welcome to be a partner, but if you prefer to be ignored, go ahead,’” said Nimrod Novik, former foreign policy adviser to the late Israeli Prime Minister Shimon Peres.

This is not the Trump Israel was expecting

When Trump was reelected last November, the response from the Israeli government was near rapturous. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who had an often fraught relationship with Biden’s administration, praised Trump for “history’s greatest comeback” and predicted a “powerful recommitment to the great alliance between Israel and America.”

It’s not hard to figure out why Netanyahu was so optimistic. During his first term, Trump, who often describes himself as the most pro-Israel president in history, took a number of precedent-smashing steps to demonstrate that support, including moving the US embassy to Jerusalem, which is not considered the country’s capital by most of the international community, and recognizing Israel’s sovereignty over the disputed Golan Heights.

His first term included the Abraham Accords — a series of deals, mediated by the United States, normalizing relations between Israel and a number of Arab countries — as well as the scrapping of President Barack Obama’s Iran nuclear deal, loathed by Netanyahu’s government. Even by the standards of the US-Israel relationship, Trump’s approach stood out for its unconditional support.

There were early indications that the second term would bring more of the same. For his ambassador to Israel, Trump picked Mike Huckabee, a Christian Zionist whose views on Israeli-Palestinian issues would put him on the far right even in Israeli politics. One of Trump’s most notable domestic initiatives so far has been a widespread crackdown on universities and activists over last year’s anti-Israel protests. Nor has his White House engaged in much Biden-style soul-searching about Palestinian civilian casualties........

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