Trump Reaffirms Support for Netanyahu and Israel Amid Gulf Diplomacy Push

By: Fern Sidman

Amid swirling media speculation about a potential rift with Israeli leadership, President Donald Trump has made it emphatically clear that he harbors no frustration toward Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. In a candid and wide-ranging interview with Fox News anchor Bret Baier on May 16—following Trump’s high-stakes tour of Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and Qatar—the president sought to dispel rumors of any diplomatic cooling between Washington and Jerusalem.

As reported by The Jewish News Syndicate (JNS) on Sunday, Trump described Netanyahu as a leader who is “understandably angry” and “hurt badly” by the October 7, 2023 Hamas-led massacre that claimed the lives of over 1,200 Israelis. “He’s been hurt badly by that,” Trump told Baier. “But in another way, he’s been sort of helped because I think he’s fought hard and bravely.”

Trump’s latest tour of the Arab Gulf, which notably did not include a stop in Israel, was characterized by some media outlets as “shrugging off” or “sidelining” the Jewish state. The narrative gained traction after Trump met with Qatar’s leadership—despite the country’s well-documented financial and ideological support of Islamist organizations—and Syria’s controversial new leader, President Ahmed al-Sharaa, whom Israel’s government has described as a “jihadist.”

But Trump, according to the information provided in the JNS report, flatly rejected those portrayals. Aboard Air Force One during a flight from Saudi Arabia to Qatar, the president insisted to reporters that forging ties with Arab nations was not a slight against Israel, but rather a strategic move designed to strengthen regional stability—and by extension, bolster Israel’s position. “This is good for Israel,” he said. “Having a relationship like I have with these countries, Middle Eastern countries, essentially all of them.”

In his Fox News interview, Trump once again emphasized the horrors of the October 7 massacre, referencing graphic video footage released by Hamas themselves. “You have to remember, there was an October 7 that everyone forgets,” he told Baier. “It was one of the most violent days in the history of the world.”

Trump’s remarks, extensively cited in the JNS report, are part of a broader effort to counterbalance public perceptions that he may be drifting away from his historically close ties with Israel—a relationship cemented by actions such as relocating the U.S. Embassy to Jerusalem and brokering the Abraham Accords.

In the same interview, Trump addressed Iran’s nuclear ambitions, maintaining his longstanding hardline position. “We’re gonna have a solution one way or the other. It’s either going to be violent or not violent,” he said. “And I far prefer nonviolent … but they’re not going to have a nuclear weapon.”

Trump dismissed Iran’s insistence that its nuclear program is for civilian energy purposes. “I think nuclear is fine… if you have a country with no oil. But if you’re sitting on one of the largest piles of oil in the world, why are you talking about putting up nuclear civil [facilities]?” he asked.

During a major speech in Riyadh earlier in the trip, Trump echoed this theme, describing Iran as the “most destructive force” in the Middle East and accusing the regime of exporting “terror and death all over the world,” according to JNS.

One of the most headline-grabbing proposals floated by Trump during his tour is the idea of transforming Gaza into a so-called “freedom zone.” First referenced in a press conference in Qatar, the plan involves relocating Gaza’s population—estimated at 2 million—to other countries in the region willing to accept them, and rebuilding the Gaza Strip as a demilitarized economic hub.

Trump expanded on the idea in his April 8 meeting with Netanyahu in the Oval Office. “If you take the people, the Palestinians, and move them around to different countries, and you have plenty of countries that will do that … you really have a freedom zone … a zone where people aren’t going to be killed every day,” Trump said, as was reported by JNS.

When asked by Baier if the Gulf states would play a role in this initiative, Trump responded affirmatively. “These are people [the Gazans] that want to be in the Middle East. … They love the Middle East. … They didn’t have to go to Sweden, Germany, these different countries.”

Trump also used his trip to encourage further participation in the Abraham Accords, which normalized relations between Israel and several Arab nations during his first term. In Riyadh, he urged Saudi Arabia to join the framework. As the JNS report noted, Trump sees expanding this regional diplomatic web as key to both containing Iran and building a lasting architecture for peace.

Despite skipping a stop in Israel, Trump emphasized that his mission was not about exclusion but expansion. “You keep the Arab states in our fold. They’re back loving the United States again. That was a full embrace,” he told Baier.

Indeed, if anything, Trump’s latest trip and subsequent comments serve as a reiteration of his central worldview: that strength, clarity, and bold regional alliances are not just in the interest of America’s Middle Eastern partners—but directly in the interest of the State of Israel.

Trump’s administration continues to prioritize Israel’s security and prosperity, even while navigating delicate diplomatic waters in the broader Arab world, the JNS report indicated. With negotiations now underway in Doha and discussions of a Gaza ceasefire intensifying, Trump appears committed to a vision of Middle East peace that puts Israel’s security—and its sovereignty—at the forefront.