Trump and MAGA turn on Israel over scale of bombing and settler attacks

If you’ve heard it once, you’ve heard it a thousand times, usually from his own lips: “Donald Trump is the best friend Israel has ever had”.

Last year, conservative American Jews wagered millions on that proposition. But recent events have thrown a monkey wrench into the fabled bromance between President Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

According to White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt, Trump was “caught off guard” both by Israel’s recent strikes in Syria and the attack that hit Gaza’s only Catholic church, killing three civilians. And, as reported by Axios, ”the chatter in the West Wing grew louder: Benjamin Netanyahu is out of control”. One White House official, sounding more like Senator Bernie Sanders than an Israel-can-do-no-wrong Evangelical, said "Bibi acted like a madman. He bombs everything all the time".

A second official told Axios, regarding the church shelling "the feeling is that every day there is something new. What the f***?"

"The bombing in Syria caught the president and the White House by surprise," another official explained. "The president doesn't like turning on the television and seeing bombs dropped in a country he is seeking peace in." Yet another official described Netanyahu as “like a child who just won't behave".

America’s millions of evangelical Christians have long been counted among Israel’s biggest supporters as well as Trump’s most reliable voters. They are particularly distressed by the damage to the Holy Family Church, the only Catholic church in the West Bank, as well as by a fire allegedly set by settlers next to the ruins of the fifth-century Church of St George.

Key among them is US ambassador to Israel and evangelical pastor Mike Huckabee, who issued a strong rebuke during a visit to the West Bank village of Taybeh, the site of the Church of St George.

"To commit an act of sacrilege by desecrating a place that is supposed to be a place of worship, it is an act of terror, and it is a crime… There should be… harsh consequences. People need to pay a price for doing something that destroys that which belongs, not just to other people, but that which belongs to God. That is a sacrilege. It's against the Holy."

Huckabee insists that those "who carry out acts of terror in Taybeh, or anywhere" be "found and prosecuted," and not merely "reprimanded".

These sentiments were echoed by Senator Lindsey Graham, a staunch supporter of Israel and key ally of Trump, who said of the arson “I want to find out who did it, and I want them to be punished. And if it was settlers from the West Bank, Israelis, I want them to be punished”.

What is stunning about these recriminations is that, until recently, the Trump administration seemed to have a hands-off policy regarding the West Bank, leaving both the settlers and the IDF who protect them a free reign.

For Huckabee, in particular, this is a rhetorical U-turn. In the past, he has denied the existence of Palestinians as a distinct people and of the West Bank as a jurisdiction. "I think Israel has title deed to Judea and Samaria," he told CNN in 2017, using the Biblical terms for the West Bank.

"There are certain words I refuse to use. There is no such thing as a West Bank. It's Judea and Samaria. There's no such thing as a settlement. They're communities, they're neighbourhoods, they're cities. There's no such thing as an occupation."

Huckabee has also expressed outrage over the murder of Palestinian-American Saif Mussallet, allegedly beaten to death by settlers earlier this month. Mussallet ran an ice cream shop in Florida where he was born, and loved baseball and all things American.

Huckabee has demanded that Israel “aggressively investigate the murder of Mussallet, an American citizen who was visiting family in Sinjil when he was beaten to death. There must be accountability for this criminal and terrorist act. Saif was just 20 yrs old,” he said.

It seems unlikely that Huckabee’s words alone will move Israel from its long-standing practice of turning a blind eye to settler violence, nor that American pressure can move the dial much on the dismal statistic that, between 2005-22 only 7% of Israeli police investigations of settler violence led to an indictment, and only 3% led to a conviction, according to the Israeli human rights group Yesh Din.

Nonetheless, we are at a point that the Trump administration and many Americans clearly view as a time of heightened chaos in Israel: ongoing slaughter of Gazans seeking humanitarian aid; the bombing of Damascus; damage to churches in the West Bank; and the apparent murder of American citizens by settlers out of control.

And while official rhetoric and demands might indicate that America is reaching a critical mass of grievances against Israel, it’s hard to imagine that much will change. Netanyahu has shown little inclination to rein in a settler movement that includes key members of his coalition. And his approach to the Gaza war has been, to put it mildly, obstinate and inflexible.

How much pressure can Americans or even Trump bring to bear? Trump called Netanyahu after the church was shelled and extracted a public apology. But apologies cost nothing.

The MAGA leading light, Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, made a motion in Congress to reduce funding for Israel, a move that is usually reserved for far-Left Democrats. It was defeated 422-6, Democrats and Republicans alike standing firm in support of Israel.

Press secretary Leavitt said “The president wants the killing to end, and he wants to negotiate a ceasefire in this region. He wants to see all of the hostages released from Gaza. That has been a top priority for this president” – to which a prominent Jewish comedian might add “yada yada yada”.

For columnist at The Forward,  Rob Eshman, Mussallet’s killing is “just one more death too likely to go uninvestigated. One more alleged murder that we have too many reasons to believe will go unpunished.”

And if Netanyahu continues to “act like a madman” or “a child who won’t behave”, Palestinians will die, Israelis will suffer, and Jews in the diaspora may tear their hair, holding out vain hope that the evangelical Christians of MAGA might save the day. They won’t.

For tens of millions of MAGA Americans, there is still church on Sunday and the vaunted power of prayer.