The pundit on Israel’s right-wing news channel was visibly anxious.
One American president, said Yuval Malka, presented a “window of opportunity” for Israel to have free rein across the Middle East. But the other, he cautioned, was fickle, appearing to love Israel but liable to leave it in the lurch and constrain its military might.
The president Israelis should fear? Donald Trump.
“Remember what I’m saying: Don’t be impressed by Trump, and don’t be impressed by his taking office,” Malka, a former military police official, said on Israeli Channel 14 this week. “We needed to, and we still can, take advantage of the window of opportunity in the gaps between the outgoing administration and incoming administration to do everything we think we need to do, both in Gaza and Iran.”
He added, “We’ll be left here without the ability to execute anything. So we need to do — as fast as possible, before he takes office — everything we think needs to happen, and to create a fact on the ground.”
For about eight years, the Israeli right and its advocates abroad have looked to Trump as their champion — and the admiration was understandable. As president, he and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu forged a close relationship, with Trump delivering on a list of Netanyahu’s long-held wishes. In 2019, images of the two shaking hands figured prominently in Netanyahu’s reelection campaign.
But now, some of those who praised Trump in both Israel and the United States are trashing the hostage deal he is championing as he reenters office — and in some cases, they’re criticizing Trump himself.
The wariness comes after reports that Trump and his incoming Middle East envoy, Steve Witkoff, turned the screws on Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to get him to yes on the ceasefire deal. Upon the deal’s announcement, Trump called it “EPIC.”
Alongside Malka, a user on X named Nioh Berg, who has 185,000 followers and identifies as “Anti Woke,” has spent the past couple days railing against the incoming president she only recently adulated. On Jan. 9, she posted, “We are entering the Age of Trump, and the whole world is feeling it. What a wonderful sight. Optimism is in the air, the energy has shifted.”
Following the announcement of the deal on Wednesday, six days later, her tone was different.
She wrote, above a Trump post praising the deal, “No, Trump. You forced Israel into a terrible deal for 33 hostages, several of whom are dead. The majority will remain kept inside Gaza, their fate up in the air. You did this in order to claim a win on the 20th, and with no other considerations taken. Extremely disappointing.”
She was referring to Monday, which is Jan. 20 and Trump’s inauguration date.
Many supporters and observers of the Israeli right aren’t shocked that Trump’s love isn’t unconditional. Trump portrays himself as a dealmaker and has long professed a desire to make the “Deal of the Century” in the Middle East, as well as bring an end to the Israel-Hamas war.
On Wednesday, Israeli journalist Shmuel Rosner tweeted, “Is the right disappointed in Trump? Yes, but they’re not necessarily surprised. The Israeli right doesn’t have heavenly faith in the president. And that was before it became known that he put pressure on the question of a hostage deal.”
Other more prominent fans of the once and future president have inveighed against the deal without mentioning his name. Itamar Ben-Gvir — Israel’s far-right national security minister and the country’s leading opponent of an agreement — quoted a Jewish blessing in Israel’s parliament on the occasion of Trump’s victory in November.
On Tuesday, as a deal appeared imminent, he said, “The coalescing agreement is an agreement of surrender to Hamas.”
Likewise, the American Jewish organization that has most celebrated Trump, the Zionist Organization of America, has come out vocally against the deal — without naming the incoming president cheerleading it. In 2022, ZOA gave Trump its Herzl Award, a rare honor from the group, and its president, Morton Klein, called him “the best friend Israel ever had in the White House.”
This week alone, the group has sent out three emails to its list opposing the deal.
“Alleged Deal Would Mean More Jews Will Be Murdered and Kidnapped; a Hamas Victory and Resurgence,” one message says. It did not mention Trump.
Arkansas Sen. Tom Cotton opted to blame outgoing President Joe Biden for the agreement, without mentioning that Trump’s team worked closely with Biden’s and staunchly supported the agreement.
“Why is lame duck Joe Biden trying to cram down a bad deal on Israel on his way out the door?” Cotton tweeted. “The only ‘deal’ should be unconditional surrender by Hamas—which is already nearly destroyed—and return of ALL hostages.”
One user responded, “Ask Trump.”
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