A reported U.S. move toward a new understanding with Saudi Arabia, along with possible progress on providing Turkey with F-35 fighter jets, points to a broader shift in Washington’s regional priorities. The picture presented is one in which former President Donald Trump appears more focused on transactional ties with key regional powers than on aligning closely with Israeli preferences.
In that setting, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is described as increasingly sidelined. While he is still portrayed as hoping to pull the United States back toward a joint military path on Iran, the article suggests he faces a much less accommodating approach from Trump than Israel may have expected.
The wider implication is that U.S. policy could be moving toward deals that serve American leverage with Saudi Arabia and Turkey, even if those steps create unease in Jerusalem. A Saudi nuclear agreement and renewed access to advanced U.S. aircraft for Turkey would both carry major strategic meaning across the Middle East.
For Netanyahu, the message appears to be that past assumptions about automatic political or military backing may no longer hold. Rather than offering Israel sweeping strategic benefits, Trump is portrayed as pursuing his own regional calculations, leaving Israel to adjust to a changing balance in Washington.
