There is probably no way to sugarcoat the pill after the diplomatic circus we were subjected to on Sunday: Israel is being led by a sophisticated but blackmailable prime minister, trapped by his gamble from way back to put all his chips on Donald Trump; he himself is being led by that same Trump, who never ceases to surprise with the scale of his amateurism, his impatience and the fact that he is, quite simply, a terrifyingly weak president. Because what was in his post about the ceasefire? Fabrications (IDF forces were not on their way to Beirut), a deal that sells the fabrication in exchange for a real concession (the use of IDF force in response to Hezbollah's endless violations of the ceasefires), and above all, throwing an ally under the bus for the sake of "very good talks" with Hezbollah. Oh, how Ukraine understands us now.
In the background: Iran, which once again threatened traffic through the Strait of Hormuz, with the not-at-all refreshing addition of blocking Bab el-Mandeb. Total victory. And behind the scenes? Qatar, which meddled and brewed the ceasefire within the non-ceasefire that went on in the north for seven weeks. Qatar, which manages the US president (by the way, how is the Boeing he received as a gift from the emirate?), pays Tehran for the passage of its ships through Hormuz and, with Trump's permission, breaks the much-vaunted blockade.
It is impossible to invent a disgrace on this scale: a president who, against Iran, did not uphold a single red line he had set for himself, but for at least seven weeks has been actively harming Israelis and Israel, and doing so under a government that cannot stop preaching about sovereignty, headed by Mr. "A Different League" and "personal friend". A different league indeed: a national league, at best.
This, incidentally, is an opportunity to recall: Beware of leaders who repeatedly remind us how much they love Israel. That simply has to set off warning lights. Why? Because at least some of them will use that card to turn an embrace into a chokehold. As one of the French marshals of the 17th century put it, although the line has been attributed elsewhere as well: "Lord, protect me from my friends. I can take care of my enemies myself."
And this is also an opportunity to recall the following: What is required in relations between countries is not love talk from the admired president, for whom there are not enough squares to name in order to satisfy his narcissism, nor misty-eyed preoccupation with how many Jewish grandchildren he has. What is required is proper working relations, a convergence of interests, mutual respect between the systems, a strong institutional relationship and a shared values base. Good personal relations are a bonus with which one must be extremely careful. For all the close cooperation between the defense establishments, we have fallen here into the honey trap assembled with unfathomable shortsightedness by our best speaker at the UN.
And Trump? On Sunday evening, we discovered that he had lost interest. Just as there are no longer talks between Russia and Ukraine, because he and his envoys already failed in their working assumptions, so it is here as well: The negotiations with Iran are stuck because Trump does not really have many cards at the moment (karma from the meeting with Volodymyr Zelenskyy in February 2025 sends its regards), and as he said in an interview with CNBC: "I don't care" how the negotiations end. Just like that, plain and simple, and above all irresponsible, exactly as you would expect from him.
Despite his help in freeing the hostages, for which deep thanks are due, relations with the president are already turning from farce into tragedy. Their good fortune, and our bad luck, is that these two reckless men will find enough commentators to present this catastrophe as somewhat less terrible, and after a week as a reasonable situation, and after some more time as an achievement. There will always be people terrified of acknowledging reality who will buy this folly, even without the usual sauce about a brilliant plan that has not yet been revealed.
As Anthony Scaramucci, one of the former spokesmen for the 45th and 47th president, once said: "His die-hard supporters will tell you he's playing four-dimensional chess, but all of us really know he's eating the chess pieces; he's munching on the chess pieces."
