Why Netanyahu is distancing himself from Trump ahead of Israeli election

TEL AVIV — Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will keep his trip to New York on Thursday brief, a decision that a senior Israeli political source told Al-Monitor reflects the current state of relations between the Israeli leader and President Donald Trump. The source said Netanyahu will arrive at the UN General Assembly summit at a politically sensitive moment, with Israel facing growing international pressure and elections scheduled for Oct. 27. The Israeli premier is expected to spend only a few hours in the United States before returning to Israel following his UN address to focus on the election campaign, the source added. No plans have been made for him to meet Trump, who was once one of Netanyahu’s key electoral assets and featured in billboards above Israeli highways ahead of the country’s 2019 elections, shaking hands with the campaigning premier. While the strategic partnership between the United States and Israel remains strong, the once close relationship between the two leaders has soured since the euphoria of the first weeks of their joint war against Iran began on Feb. 28, an Israeli diplomatic official told Al-Monitor on condition of anonymity.