Trump, Netanyahu tensions reach new high, complicating Iran deal

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Tensions have never been higher between President Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu over how to end the war they started together, threatening the viability of a U.S.-Iran peace deal signed over the weekend.

Trump is claiming victory in cutting off the Islamic Republic’s pathway to a nuclear weapon, while the deal also reopens the Strait of Hormuz, eventually letting oil and gas flow unhindered to the global market.

But Netanyahu is facing major backlash in Israel, with critics across the political spectrum arguing the reported terms of the deal are too weak in reining in threats from Iran — not only regarding its nuclear program but its ballistic missile capability and its support for terrorist proxies.

And Netanyahu has defied Trump’s demands to halt retaliatory attacks against Hezbollah, the Iranian-backed militia in Lebanon, risking Iran’s pullout from talks.

Trump cursed Netanyahu publicly over the weekend, claiming that Israel nearly collapsed the deal with Iran because of fighting with Hezbollah. Hours later, Trump announced that the memorandum of understanding was signed with Iran.

“Why did Bibi have to do a f‑‑‑ing attack? I was so pissed off. I let him know. He has no f‑‑‑ing judgment. I let him know that,” Trump told Axios, referring to Netanyahu by his nickname.

Tensions are real, but the relationship is strong

The tensions between Trump and Netanyahu are unlikely to lead to a major rupture in the U.S. and Israel relationship, said Daniel Shapiro, a former U.S. ambassador to Israel during the Obama administration.

Trump is not willing to risk damaging U.S. and Israeli military and intelligence cooperation that is fundamental for American national security. But “there’s a real divergence of interests” on the way forward with Iran and Lebanon, said Shapiro, now a distinguished fellow with the Atlantic Council’s Scowcroft Middle East Security Initiative.

“Trump wants the war to end because he sees the global economic chaos that the closure of the Strait of Hormuz has caused, and he’s not making progress on any of the other goals that were originally mentioned when the war was launched,” he added.

Over 100 days of war, Iran’s surviving clerics have withstood the U.S. and Israeli military pressure, preserved the regime, demonstrated their ability to close the Strait of Hormuz, and used their stockpiles of drones and missiles to hit back at Israel and U.S. allies across the Persian Gulf region. Iran has also done major damage to U.S. bases in the Middle East and killed 13 American soldiers.

Trump is under immense pressure to resolve the global energy crisis, which is also driving up gas prices in the U.S. But Israel, largely shielded from those energy shocks, is more concerned about threats from Iran’s missile and drone capabilities and its funding of terrorist proxies.

“Most of the rest of the world wants the war to end. Most Americans want the war to end,” Shapiro said. “Netanyahu wants the war to continue because he wants to do more damage to the regime and its nuclear and missile programs, and so there’s a real divergence of interests.”

Netanyahu faces immense domestic pressure

Israelis head to national elections in October, and Netanyahu’s political foes — and even some coalition partners — are feasting on his spat with Trump, concerns over the deal with Iran and any limits on striking Hezbollah.

“Trump’s agreement does not bind us. Israel is not subject to the United States, and we are an independent and sovereign nation!” Itamar Ben-Gvir, Israel’s minister of national security and head of the far-right political party Otzma Yehudit, posted on social platform X.

On the other side, Israeli opposition leader Yair Lapid criticized Netanyahu for alienating the U.S. and framed Iran as reaping benefits in the deal — the exact terms of which are not yet public.

“Netanyahu promised us a historic victory — and we got a crisis with the Americans, Hormuz open to the Iranians, money for the Revolutionary Guards, ballistic missiles aimed at Israel, and Israel waiting in the corridor like a scolded child,” he posted on X.

Israelis are souring further on Netanyahu’s leadership, with a recent poll by the Israel Democracy Institute showing 61 percent of Israelis think the prime minister should not run in the upcoming elections.

Netanyahu addressed the tensions with Trump during a press conference Monday.

“President Trump and I know each other for a long time … many times we see eye to eye, and sometimes we see less,” he said. “I am responsible for Israel’s security interests. I stand up for them.”

Hezbollah remains a major flashpoint

Iran has seized on Hezbollah as a key wedge between Trump and Netanyahu, threatening to abandon talks with the U.S. if a ceasefire in Lebanon is violated.

Trump is walking a tightrope between supporting Israel’s right to self-defense, while trying to rein in Netanyahu from launching a major military operation against the U.S.-designated terrorist group, which could quickly blow up the truce with Iran.

“Hezbollah, we have to have a little talk with them,” Trump said Monday, speaking to reporters on the sidelines of the Group of Seven summit in Évian-les-Bains, France.

A senior administration official said Monday that Israel is not required, as part of the memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Iran, to withdraw from territory it routed Hezbollah from in southern Lebanon. The official said that the MOU requires a ceasefire in Lebanon but stressed that Israel has the right to retaliate against attacks from Hezbollah.

“If Iran is not able to control Hezbollah, and if they attack Israeli positions or Israeli towns, Israel will have the right to defend themselves and respond,” the official said.

Natan Sachs, a senior fellow at the Middle East Institute, said Israel and Hezbollah will likely push the boundaries of any rules of engagement ahead of the official U.S.-Iran signing ceremony for the MOU on Friday.

“They’re both going to be testing each other, which is what I think Hezbollah was doing yesterday — is exactly trying to test how far can they push Israel responding, or with Trump preventing them from responding,” he said.

Trump, in a Truth Social post Sunday, called Hezbollah’s initial attack on Israel “very small and meaningless, nobody was hurt, injured, or killed,” and framed Israel’s response — specifically striking Beirut — as an overreaction.

Two hours later, Israeli Ambassador to the U.S. Michael Leiter posted on X a list of Hezbollah’s attacks over the past 48 hours: They included more than 50 rockets and “killer drones fired at IDF [Israel Defense Forces] troops,” two barrages into Israeli territory, “sending Israeli citizens to bomb shelters,” and Hezbollah “terrorists” moving back into southern Lebanon.

“As long as Hezbollah keeps attacking Israel, like any other country, we will defend ourselves.”

Iran tolerates Israel’s presence in Lebanon so far

While Iran wants to leverage its proxy in Lebanon, it also has incentive to keep Hezbollah in check and not spoil the deal it’s reached with the U.S.

A pause in fighting allows Iran time to recover from the damage it suffered during the war and earn critical profits from oil exports from Trump lifting the naval blockade. Iran earned about $165 million per day from oil profits before the blockade was put into effect.

The senior administration official told reporters that Trump is prepared to provide “small gestures” of releasing frozen Iranian funds or sanctions relief in exchange for Iranians providing “small gestures that show that they’re willing to meet their commitments.”

Vice President Vance said Monday that Iran could eventually have access to a $300 billion fund to help postwar reconstruction.

Shapiro, of the Atlantic Council, said Iran would probably prefer not to let fighting in Lebanon destroy the talks, given the advantages of a ceasefire with the U.S. And he said Iran’s skilled negotiators believe they can extract key concessions from nuclear talks that are scheduled for an initial window of 60 days.

“I think they are incentivized to actually let this thing go forward, keep Lebanon boiling, but on a low simmer, and not to spill over to the point where it destroys the MOU that’s just about to be signed,” he said.

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Benjamin Netanyahu

Donald Trump

JD Vance

Obama

Yair Lapid

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