‘The Trump White House has outsourced all policy on Gaza to Israel’

11 snips

Sep 8, 2025

Ben Samuels, a Haaretz Washington correspondent, shares insights on U.S. foreign policy and the Gaza conflict under Trump. He discusses how the White House has issued a 'blank check' to Israel, allowing aggressive actions against Gaza with little oversight. The shifting political landscape, particularly among Republicans questioning aid to foreign wars, shapes the conversation. He also highlights increasing skepticism within the Democratic Party and addresses the complexities American Jews face amid ongoing conflict and humanitarian crises.

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INSIGHT

U.S. Has Outsourced Gaza Policy

The Trump administration has effectively outsourced Gaza policy to Israel and given Netanyahu a de facto blank check.
That lack of a fully articulated U.S. policy creates room for Israel to interpret silence as approval and act accordingly.

INSIGHT

Shift To All-Or-Nothing Hostage Demands

The Trump administration shifted from supporting phased hostage deals to demanding full release of all hostages before any ceasefire.
This all-or-nothing stance aligns U.S. public messaging with Netanyahu's tougher position.

ANECDOTE

Gershon Baskin's Back-Channel Role

Gershon Baskin has long-standing back channels with Hamas and helped the Gilad Shalit deal.
Ben Samuels notes such intermediaries may still be engaged, even if official messaging is unclear.

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As Israel’s Gaza City offensive intensifies, the lack of a “fully articulated policy” on the part of Donald Trump’s White House means that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu can move ahead with a “blank check” from the U.S., said Haaretz Washington correspondent Ben Samuels, speaking on the Haaretz Podcast.

The message from Trump officials to Israel is “do what you need to do, just get it over with fast,” while in public statements, they have shifted to align with Israel’s “all-or-nothing” approach to a hostage deal.

“Trump is not giving Israel a red light,” Samuels said. “To Israel, that means a green light.”

On the podcast, Samuels analyzed the dramatic shifts in both the Republican and Democratic parties regarding Israel ahead of the 2026 midterms, predicting that the upcoming election will “be the one where Israel becomes a top-tier front-of-mind issue that could really divide voters and could really sway races one way or another” in both of the parties.

With the GOP in particular, he noted, “a growing number of mainstream Republicans, along with the isolationist MAGA wing are openly asking, ‘Why are our dollars going to funding a foreign war rather than making the lives better for Americans at home?’”

Democrats, he added, “are just not going to take what Israel's saying at face value anymore.” All of this contributes, he said, to the “inflection point” at which American Jews find themselves nearly two years into the Gaza war.

“I think we are going to look at this as a foundational shift in how this generation and the next views the U.S.-Israel relationship, as well as the relationship of American Jews to Israel.”

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