Great expectations (really, nobody has greater expectations)

Like a bunch of groupies who are so excited they start speaking in tongues, Israeli tabloids are over the moon, the sun and any other glowing orbs for US President Donald Trump’s visit to Israel Monday.

In perhaps the strange hope that Trump will stop to pick up one of their editions, or just to show solidarity with the American language, both Israel Hayom and Yedioth Ahronoth print English-language greetings and short messages to the US leader on their front pages.

Saying both papers are friendly is like saying both Trump and Reuven Rivlin are presidents. While technically true, they’re not anywhere near on the same level.

“I know you are sincere when you say you are committed to the security and future of Israel. You believe that America and Israel are allies that share common values, and that America must not forsake old friends,” No. 1 Trump fan Boaz Bismuth writes in Israel Hayom, also calling on Trump not to pursue “futile diplomacy” with the Palestinians.

In Yedioth, Eitan Haber’s message seems more meant to temper Trump’s expectations about what he might expect in little ol’ Israel after coming from glitzy Saudi Arabia.

“No, we have no golden castles with which to welcome you, like those you visited in Saudi Arabia. We have no colorful parade of camels with which to honor you. We have nothing to offer you, except what we have here: the values of human rights, basic democratic laws, and a Western observation post in the Middle-East,” he writes.

There’s no English on Haaretz’s front page, unless you count the Peace Now ad reading “Trump, there’s only one deal,” with “deal” in English. Instead the paper’s prophets of doom fill out coverage of the trip by also looking back at Trump’s speech in Saudi Arabia against “Islamic extremism” and auguring what it could mean for the Israel leg of the trip.

Columnist Chemi Shalev guesses that “Israelis should brace themselves for the possibility that once he lands at Ben Gurion Airport, Trump will release his cooped up energies, dispense with his good behavior and take it all out on Benjamin Netanyahu and his ministers.”

In the same vein, Barak Ravid writes that Netanyahu will have to flatter like he’s never flattered before, and he still might come up short.

“The love with which Trump will envelope Netanyahu during the visit could turn out to be a honey trap for the premier. Netanyahu could find hints of this during Trump’s speech in Saudi Arabia,” he writes. “The US president sees Israeli-Palestinian peace as a central component of his Middle East strategy and believes that if he achieves ‘the ultimate deal’ it will help his efforts to eradicate the Islamic State. It’s pretty certain that that’s not how Netanyahu views things.”

In Yedioth Ahronoth, columnist Nadav Eyal also takes note of the speech, and the fact that the Israel part of the leg is not actually as important as people here are making it out to be.

“It’s hard for us, as Israelis, to make peace with the fact that the visit of the president here is an addendum to the important visit to the Arab world. But that’s the reality: The money is there, and also the bigger troubles, as Trump saw himself — the extremism which is followed by violence.

“When Air Force One lands at Ben Gurion Airport this morning, the real Israeli-American conversation will take place. Will Trump expend real political capital for Middle East peace, or is it just rhetoric,” he asks.

Israel Hayom, which has been pumping for several days how “historic” the visit will be, somehow leaves that word off its coverage, instead making do with calling it “The most important diplomatic trip this year.”

The slight tempering of expectation dovetails with a short item detailing the uncertainty in Israel over what Trump is planning to bring with him during the trip, and they don’t mean Ivanka.

“The Israeli political scene is holding its breath over the visit by Donald Trump in Israel today. The question is if Trump will bring with him news of new peace talks under conditions that are not comfortable for Israel and for [creating] an atmosphere of building,” the paper writes, adding that at least they can guess Netanyahu will remain silent and not argue with whatever lot Trump draws for him.

Haaretz’s lead op-ed, though, is unflinching in its urging of Israel’s government to seize the opportunity Trump’s arrival represents in finding any way to the negotiating table.

“Here he can act in his favorite way, as a businessman closing deals. Since he was elected, he has been consistent in his determination to attain the ultimate deal in the Middle East,” the paper writes. “If the Israeli government truly seeks peace as it claims, it must harness Trump’s determination in order to bravely draft its path to a diplomatic solution.”