Al-Ayyam newspaper - The American president is a captive... Analysis: Netanyahu blackmailed the politically isolated Trump and pushed him toward an Iran catastrophe.

Israeli writer Netanel Shlomovitz, in a striking analysis published in Haaretz, questions the growing isolation of U.S. President Donald Trump in his second term and points to Netanyahu’s role in dragging Washington toward a military confrontation with Iran.

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After 14 months back in the White House, Trump has begun living in increasing isolation from American reality, surrounded by a tight circle of loyalists who curate information for him.

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He no longer needs to win over independent voters, which makes him indifferent to polls showing broad American opposition to the war.

He also relies only on the Truth Social platform, which increases exposure to the views of hardliners from the MAGA base.

According to Shlomovitz, Trump’s statements about not needing international law, citing his ethics and mind as the sole determinant of his authority, reflect a tendency toward undivided unilateral rule.

According to what Shlomovitz relayed from analyst George Baker, Trump does not care about the Iranian people, but sees Tehran merely as a backdrop for a display he is preparing for history books.

Shlomovitz highlights Netanyahu’s controversial interview with Sean Hannity on Fox News as a turning point in American perception of the Iran file.

The interview is described as implying admission of manipulation, with Netanyahu boasting of pursuing, for decades, a strategy to persuade American presidents to wage war on Iran, which reinforces the portrayal of him as a hawk who exploited Trump’s isolation.

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Former Secretary of State Antony Blinken is cited as saying Netanyahu used the same tactic with the Obama and Biden administrations, threatening a unilateral strike to drag Washington along.

The analysis also relies on the book The Divider (2022), which recounts how Netanyahu tried to pressure Trump at the end of his first term (December 2020) to attack Iran, before being deterred by Chief of Staff Mark Milley with a blunt warning.

Domestic reactions in the United States show cracks on the American domestic front, as Joe Rogan, the most influential media figure in America, expressed disappointment among Trump supporters, saying: Trump ran on a promise of no more wars, and now we are in a war without a clear objective.

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MAGA journalists began describing the war as a strategic catastrophe, accusing the administration of surrendering American sovereignty in favor of an Israeli agenda.

While hardline Republicans remain loyal, independents and Democrats show overwhelming opposition, placing Trump in a precarious position.

Shlomovitz concludes that the war on Iran is not the result of a tightly planned American strategy, but a consequence of a president’s isolation and personal beliefs, exploited by an Israeli ally who understands the White House’s weaknesses.

The analysis notes important indicators of the fragility of American decision-making and the potential to mobilize regional allies to exploit Washington’s weaknesses.

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