In January 2024, Axios reported that then-president Joe Biden was “running out of patience” with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. At the time, Israel’s war on Gaza had been ongoing for months, and Biden faced public criticism over US support for the conflict.

Continued Escalation and Alleged Tensions

The war in Gaza continued through Biden’s term and into the first 10 months of Donald Trump’s second presidency. Media outlets have since published anonymous accounts of “frustrating” calls between Trump and Netanyahu. Despite these reports, US support for Israel has remained consistent.

This week, a new anonymous report surfaced that claimed Trump called Netanyahu “f***ing crazy” during a call over Israel’s escalation in Lebanon. Around the same time, an Israeli attack killed six people, including two children, in southern Lebanon’s al-Marwaniyah town.

Analysts Question the Significance of Reports

Experts say the real focus should be on policy outcomes rather than media reports of private tensions. Ryan Costello, policy director at the National Iranian American Council Action (NIAC), said political observers now “mock” such reports of US presidential frustration with Netanyahu.

“What’s really important is what actually happens in practice,” Costello told Al Jazeera. Isabelle Hayslip of DAWN, a US-based rights group, added that Trump, like his predecessors, has shown an inability to prioritize American interests over Israel’s expansionist goals.

“Trump has no final say over Israeli actions. Like his predecessors, the president has proved completely unable to prioritise American interests, instead catering to Israel’s expansionist whims,” Hayslip said.

Policy Over Posturing

Trump faces increasing pressure from both Democratic rivals and parts of his own base over his handling of the war on Iran, which he launched jointly with Netanyahu on February 28. That conflict led Iran to close the Strait of Hormuz, spiking US gas prices and contributing to inflation.

Critics accuse Trump of allowing Israel to drag the US into a war that doesn’t align with Washington’s strategic goals. With negotiations to end the war stuck, Israel’s escalation in Lebanon—where it threatens to bomb Beirut—risks undoing the fragile truce that began in April.

Iranian officials have suggested they’ve cut off contact with the US over Israeli attacks in Lebanon. Before the latest Axios report, Trump claimed to have spoken with Netanyahu and an unidentified Hezbollah representative, with both sides agreeing that “all shooting will stop.” Netanyahu, however, quickly clarified that Israel would continue its operations in southern Lebanon, where it is turning towns into rubble.

Advocacy groups argue that Israel’s actions in Lebanon and across the region would not have been possible without US backing. Since October 2023, the US has provided nearly $25 billion in military aid to Israel, helped deflect Iranian retaliatory attacks, and vetoed several ceasefire resolutions at the United Nations Security Council.

Despite these actions, anonymous reports of US presidential frustration with Netanyahu have become a recurring media feature. These accounts are often attributed to US officials, though it remains unclear how such similar leaks have persisted across two administrations from different political parties.

Publicly, aides to both Biden and Trump have largely avoided criticizing Israel. Trump has repeatedly praised Netanyahu, once calling him a “hero” during a meeting in Florida in December. “We’re with you, and we’ll continue to be with you,” Trump told Netanyahu.

Two weeks earlier, Axios reported that the White House had “scolded” Netanyahu over Israel’s ceasefire violations in Gaza. “The White House message to Netanyahu was: ‘If you want to ruin your reputation and show that you don’t abide by agreements, be our guest, but we won’t allow you to ruin President Trump’s reputation after he brokered the deal in Gaza,’” the publication quoted a US official as saying.

Negar Mortazavi, a senior fellow at the Center for International Policy, suggested that the recent leak about the tense Trump-Netanyahu call might be intended to make Trump appear tough on Israel and to deflect blame for the unpopular war. “It could be sort of a way of moderating the anger or the blame at the US for continuing this unpopular, illegal, unnecessary war,” she told Al Jazeera.

Costello added that the leak may also be a signal to Iran. “I see this one primarily as a signal to the Iranians that Trump is serious, and he wants to insulate what’s happening in Lebanon and Israel’s attacks from the Iran negotiations,” he said. “It remains to be seen the extent to which that excoriation has actually led to a change in Israel’s policies, and I think there is a strong incentive for continued defiance from Netanyahu.”

Axios defended its reporting, noting that Trump and Netanyahu have had tense calls in the past but have still coordinated closely on Iran and other issues. Mortazavi warned that all sides in the war are engaged in a hybrid conflict involving not just the battlefield but also an information and intelligence war.

“This is a very hybrid war. It’s a war on the battlefield. It’s an intelligence war. It’s a war of narratives,” she said. “And then there’s also an information war, which includes disinformation, half-truths and strategic leaks.”