Akiva Eldar, an Israeli political analyst, author and journalist, says the announcement of a US-Houthi ceasefire without Israel being informed beforehand marks a major development in bilateral relations.
“There is a completely different era now, and I think for Netanyahu this is a big surprise,” Eldar told Al Jazeera.
He highlighted how Trump recently surprised Israel by announcing the US is in talks with Iran and news reports saying National Security Adviser Mike Waltz was removed because he was “trying to negotiate some kind of strike on Iran with Israel without the approval of the president”.
“Those days when Netanyahu and the Israeli government were like the tail wagging the dog are over,” Eldar said.
Trump’s visit next week to the Middle East does not include a stop in Israel “because for him Israel has nothing to offer the United States" … Israel is really becoming a nuisance. The message is in the itinerary,” he added.
