Trump Downplays Gaza Rift, Insists Ties With Netanyahu Remain “Very Good”

US President Donald Trump on Monday insisted that his relationship with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu remains “very good” despite a growing disagreement over a US-led plan for Gaza. Trump made the remark when a journalist called out a question at the end of an Oval Office event, amid mounting attention on the differences between the two leaders over the proposed framework for ending the war in Gaza. “The relationship is very good,” Trump said when asked about his ties with Netanyahu. The brief response came after more than a week of increasingly public criticism and disagreement surrounding the Gaza proposal.

While Trump has continued to promote the plan, Netanyahu explicitly rejected it on Sunday, creating a significant policy rift between Washington and Jerusalem despite their close political relationship. The US-backed proposal calls for Israel to begin withdrawing its forces from parts of Gaza in coordination with the disarmament of Hamas. The framework is intended to establish a path towards reducing the fighting and addressing the wider conflict, but Netanyahu has made clear that Israel will not accept terms that he believes compromise its security objectives. Hamas’s disarmament remains one of the central issues in the dispute, with Israel insisting that the militant group cannot retain its military capabilities as part of any lasting settlement.

Netanyahu’s rejection came after days of increasing criticism surrounding the proposal. The Israeli prime minister faces pressure from both supporters of the government’s war strategy and far-right members of his coalition, who have strongly opposed moves they believe could limit Israel’s military campaign or require concessions to Hamas. The Gaza war has remained one of the most divisive issues in Israeli politics since Hamas’s October 2023 attack triggered the conflict, and disagreements over how the war should end have intensified political pressure on Netanyahu.

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The political backdrop is particularly important because Netanyahu is facing an election later this year. Israel’s October 27 election will be the country’s first national vote since the devastating Hamas attack that triggered the Gaza war. Polling cited in the report indicates that Netanyahu is running roughly level with, or behind, rivals in some surveys. The Gaza proposal is also reportedly unpopular with portions of his right-wing political base, creating an additional challenge for the prime minister as he weighs the demands of his coalition against pressure from Washington and the broader international community.

Trump’s insistence that his relationship with Netanyahu remains strong suggests that the disagreement over Gaza has not, at least publicly, broken the close ties between the two leaders. However, the dispute highlights the difficult balance Netanyahu faces between maintaining support from his right-wing coalition and managing relations with the Trump administration. Far-right members of his cabinet have urged him to reject the US-led proposal, while Trump has continued to push his vision for ending the conflict. Whether the two governments can bridge those differences will depend largely on the future of the Gaza plan, Hamas’s position on disarmament and Israel’s willingness to consider a military pullback. For now, Trump is publicly maintaining that his relationship with Netanyahu is “very good,” even as their positions on the future of Gaza increasingly diverge.

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