Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and US President Donald Trump’s relationship has been fraying after Netanyahu talked Trump into a war against an Iranian regime presented as too weak to fight back effectively, according to an analysis published in the Guardian on Saturday.
The Guardian cited former Israeli diplomat Alon Pinkas as calling Netanyahu a “conman” who used Venezuela as an example of what the US and Israel could do in Iran.
Netanyahu presented the Islamic Republic as a regime on the brink of collapse, with people prepared to rise up against the government, and the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) too weak to really attack US bases and allies, according to Pinkas, telling Trump that together, a war could be won in a matter of days.
Despite US intelligence and military officials warning of the risk of Iranian attacks on US allies in the Gulf and of the possibility of the Strait of Hormuz being closed, the Guardian reported that Netanyahu and members of the Trump administration, including Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, argued that the IRGC would not have the strength to do so.
By the end of March, when US bases had been attacked, the strait had been closed, and the Iranian people did not rise up against their government, “there were signs that Trump was very disappointed with Netanyahu,” Pinkas told the Guardian.
US President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu hold a press conference after meeting at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago club in Palm Beach, Florida, US, December 29, 2025. (credit: REUTERS/JONATHAN ERNST)Trump expresses disappointment with Netanyahu
Trump’s references to Israel and Netanyahu in public statements diminished, and Israel began to be left out of the loop regarding negotiations, according to the Guardian.
The Guardian also referenced Trump’s condemnation of the Israeli strikes on Iran’s South Pars gasfield, when Trump said that he had told Netanyahu “not to do that.”
Trump also announced that Israel was “prohibited” from bombing Lebanon by the US, adding “enough is enough,” in a public rebuke to Netanyahu after the Prime Minister said that the ceasefire agreed upon between the US and Iran did not include Lebanon.
The Guardian also cited former US ambassador to Israel Daniel Shapiro as saying Trump wants the war to have been resolved before his upcoming trip to China.
“Otherwise, he will be in the position of a supplicant seeking Xi Jinping’s help to get them to convince Iran to accept his terms or to make concessions they haven’t made,” Shapiro told The Guardian.
However, according to the Guardian, even if Netanyahu is forced to accept a temporary peace deal that is unfavorable to him, it will only be a matter of time until Trump is focused elsewhere, and Israel will have more freedom.
Former national security advisor to Trump, John Bolton, has also pointed out that Trump and Netanyahu’s political bond is too strong to easily dissolve, and said that Trump is “still giving Netanyahu a pretty free hand in Lebanon.”
Pinkas agreed with this analysis, telling the Guardian that the war in Iran is expected to hurt both politicians in the upcoming elections.
“This affects Netanyahu politically, and this affects Trump politically. In other words, they have screwed each other pretty badly,” Pinkas told the Guardian.