Netanyahu said to privately express frustration with Trump’s Mideast policies

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has been telling associates privately that he is frustrated with US President Donald Trump’s Middle East policies, according to the Israel Hayom daily.

Netanyahu has expressed that Trump says the right things on Syria and Iran in bilateral meetings, the report says, but his actions are another matter.

Netanyahu has been concerned with Trump’s support for Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s efforts to deepen his hold on Syria, Israel Hayom says, though he simultaneously gives Israel permission to operate where it chooses in the country.

During their hastily arranged meeting in Washington in April, Trump praised Erdogan as Netanyahu sat silently next to him in the Oval Office. Erdogan is a leading critic of Israel, and even prayed for Israel’s demise in a visit to a mosque during Ramadan.

Netanyahu has also been worried by Trump’s decision to open nuclear talks with Iran — announced in the same White House meeting — and concessions supposedly made by the Trump administration with little in return.

According to Israel Hayom, Netanyahu is also frustrated with former US National Security Adviser Mike Waltz being removed from his position.

According to the Washington Post, Trump was angered by Waltz’s hawkish position on Iran and coordination with Netanyahu on military options to destroy Tehran’s nuclear program, contributing to his dismissal last week.

The Prime Minister’s Office responds to the report by stressing that “in their conversation days ago, Prime Minister Netanyahu and President Trump agreed that the supreme goal is the dismantling of Iran’s ability to achieve a nuclear weapon.”