Some reports have cast this disconnect as indicative of a chasm between Trump and Israel. But this is a misreading. The divide is not between the president and Israel so much as between the president and Israel’s leader. Most Israelis support what Trump is doing—and oppose Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s approach to the war in Gaza.

The White House has called Trump’s visit a “historic return to the Middle East” but Israel is once again not on the itinerary.

Alexander, the last remaining American-Israeli hostage in Gaza, was held captive in the strip for more than 19 months.

The Israeli military will resume its operations in Gaza "with full force" in the coming days, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Tuesday. "Completing the operation means defeating Hamas. It means destroying Hamas,

Both men are politically divisive, fiercely combative and have outsize egos. But as Mr. Trump arrives in the Middle East next week, the fate of the region could hinge on their relationship.

Benjamin Netanyahu and Israel are "worried about any deal" President Trump might strike with Iran, one source told NBC News.

Edan Alexander’s mother, in a disgusting display of good-naturedness and lack of culture, does not thank the prime minister.”

For Trump, a president who often boasts about "holding the cards" in high-stakes negotiations—most famously during a heated encounter with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky at the White House in late February—Lipner felt the U.S. leader once again appears to have the necessary leverage to get his way.

Benjamin Netanyahu was born in Tel Aviv in 1949. He began as a young soldier in elite units of the Israeli army, participating throughout the 1960s in different combat operations at a very high level.