Former ambassador Herzog warns Israel’s influence in Washington has diminished sharply under Trump

Former Israeli ambassador to the US Mike Herzog said in a 103FM interview that Israel's influence on US decision-making has 'diminished greatly' and that the intimacy in the Netanyahu-Trump relationship has been damaged. He noted the meeting was crowded, lacked a one-on-one, and Trump kept Netanyahu at arm's length due to the unpopular Iran war and perception that Israel dragged the US into it.

Former Israeli ambassador to the US Mike Herzog warned in a 103FM interview on Thursday that Israel's influence on US decision-making has 'diminished greatly' under President Donald Trump. Herzog said the intimacy in the relationship between Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Trump has been damaged, noting that their recent White House meeting on July 28 was crowded, lacked a one-on-one session, and that Netanyahu entered through a side entrance without press coverage. 'In my experience, when a meeting is that crowded, the truly important decisions are not made,' Herzog said. He added that Trump wanted to keep Netanyahu at arm's length because the war with Iran is unpopular and Israel is perceived as having dragged Trump into it. 'Trump strongly dislikes that image,' Herzog said. He also pointed to broader erosion of Israel's standing in the US due to demographic changes, delegitimization campaigns funded by Qatar and Iran, and Israeli mistakes. Herzog noted that Netanyahu's decision to fight the Iran nuclear deal by going to Congress behind President Obama's back damaged bipartisan support.