Published on 6/18/2026
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Last update: 10:45 (Mecca time)
The relationship between US President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is witnessing one of its most tense stages, after Washington and Tehran signed at dawn on Thursday a memorandum of understanding that paves the way for a new phase of negotiations, while the escalating differences between them came out into the open, bypassing closed diplomatic channels towards exchanging unprecedented criticism and statements.
The signing of the memorandum of understanding came as a political and strategic shock to Israel, which saw its provisions as an undermining of what Netanyahu describes as “absolute victory” and an abort of the freedom of movement of his army on the northern front.
According to Israeli estimates and sources reported by Maariv newspaper, American pressure on the Israeli government extends to practical demands related to the withdrawal of the Israeli army from southern Lebanon and Mount Hermon in Syria, and reducing Israeli military activity on the northern front in order to preserve the diplomatic path that the Trump administration seeks with Tehran.
The sources indicate that Washington informed Israel during closed talks that what is required goes beyond a mere field truce, to include a withdrawal from the five points that Israeli forces still control inside southern Lebanon.
Collecting a security price
According to these estimates, the American administration is preparing to intensify pressure on the Netanyahu government after signing the memorandum of understanding, with the aim of obtaining an explicit commitment to withdraw from those areas, or reaching a formula that allows Trump to provide a political and security achievement for the Arab world on the Lebanese scene.
On the other hand, Netanyahu – according to the same sources – rejected the demands for complete withdrawal, stressing during recent discussions that Israel will not give up what it describes as its security achievements in the north, and that any redeployment will be conditional on strict security guarantees, foremost among which is the disarmament of Hezbollah.
Trump’s positions on the Iranian file also raised increasing concern within Israel, after he downplayed the importance of Iran’s ballistic missile program compared to the nuclear threat, indicating that the essence of the challenge is to prevent Iran from possessing a nuclear weapon, not to completely deprive it of its missile capabilities.
In the same context, Axios quoted an advisor to Netanyahu as saying that Israel does not consider itself bound by the Lebanese part of the memorandum of understanding, stressing that the Prime Minister clearly informed Trump that Israeli forces will not withdraw from southern Lebanon unless Hezbollah is disarmed.
Threat of procedural steps
According to Maariv, Israeli fears go beyond the limits of political disagreement to the possibility of Washington taking practical steps against Israel if it continues to reject American demands.
Israeli sources spoke of indirect American messages indicating that the crisis may develop from mere diplomatic disputes to concrete measures that include delaying arms shipments, imposing restrictions on operational aid, and perhaps measures that Israeli officials describe as practically amounting to something resembling an arms embargo.
These fears were strengthened after Trump’s public criticism of Netanyahu in recent days, as he accused him of excessive haste in managing military operations, and directly criticized the Israeli strikes in Lebanon, saying that the recent attacks that targeted buildings in Beirut were unnecessary and did not serve efforts to calm the situation.
The newspaper quoted American officials as saying that Trump told those close to him that Netanyahu is always pushing for more military operations, while some White House officials raised questions about whether the Israeli Prime Minister was seeking to prolong the confrontation with Iran for internal political reasons, with the Israeli elections approaching.
A coup against Trump and his team
In the same context, the anticipated agreement sparked a wave of anger within political and media circles close to Netanyahu, as pro-government officials and commentators described the US-Iranian understanding as a strategic setback for Israel, and some of them saw that Trump granted Tehran significant gains in exchange for arrangements that do not dispel Israeli security concerns.
The pro-Netanyahu media – most of which were strongly supportive of Trump – also began attacking the US president and his team, according to Axios.
In this regard, the website noted that one of the presenters on Channel 14, which is close to Netanyahu, called US Vice President J.D. Vance obscene names, and also leveled accusations of “anti-Semitism” against Trump’s envoys, Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, claiming that they had “sold out Israel” in exchange for personal financial gains.
Cross American and Israeli reports indicate that Netanyahu was surprised by the timing of the announcement of the agreement, and that he sought in recent days to conduct urgent contacts and consultations with the American administration in an attempt to amend some provisions or obtain additional guarantees, but those efforts did not yield tangible results.
At dawn on Thursday, US President Donald Trump and his Iranian counterpart Masoud Pezeshkian electronically signed a memorandum of understanding with Pakistani mediation stipulating an end to the war, in a step that establishes a second phase of negotiations extending for 60 days, with the aim of reaching a final agreement that addresses the outstanding issues between the two sides.
