Israel and the United States are great allies. But they are different countries, and their interests – while generally aligned – do not always overlap.
This was as true when Joe Biden was president as it is now that Donald Trump is in the White House. The secret to maintaining good and strong relations is knowing how to deal with disagreements when the interests diverge.
The current controversy over US Special Presidential Envoy for Hostage Affairs Adam Boehler’s direct talks with Hamas is a case in point.
Boehler, in a CNN interview on Sunday, made the argument that it was in America’s interest to speak to Hamas. “We are the United States,” he said. “We are not an agent of Israel. We have specific interests at play.”
Whatever those interests may be – and Boehler did not spell them out – they clash with Israel’s overriding priority: keeping Hamas, a murderous, brutal terrorist organization dedicated to killing Jews – including American Jews like Boehler and his family – beyond the pale.
Negotiating face-to-face with Hamas, indirectly describing them – as Boehler did – as people “without horns growing out of their head, actually guys like us, pretty nice guys” – gives these modern Nazis a veneer of legitimacy.
Israel believes, justifiably, that meeting with Hamas is a mistake. It believes, rightfully, that Boehler’s rather sanguine reading of the situation is woefully unrealistic. “I think you could see something like a long-term truce where we forgive prisoners, where Hamas lays down their arms, where they agree that they are not part of the political party going forward – I think that is a reality that is real close,” he said Sunday.
What should be Israel's response to Boehler's statements?
Now, the question is, how should Israel communicate those misgivings? Should it do so privately, as Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer did in a conversation that leaked and was described as tense? Or should it be done in public, as two senior ministers did in radio interviews on Monday?
“This is a move that, while it is possible the intentions are very good, the execution is very bad,” Agriculture and Raw Food Security Minister Avi Dichter said in a KAN Reshet Bet interview, adding that the envoy has little or no understanding of Gaza, Hamas, or the difference between what Hamas says in English and what it says in Arabic.
Dichter’s colleague in the security cabinet, Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, was as blunt in a separate interview an hour later: “In my mind, this was a bad mistake, even a little naive from someone starting out who does not understand who we are dealing with.”
Even if both of those comments are true, need they be said publicly and voiced by senior cabinet ministers? What’s the point? What is the gain?
Express those concerns, let the administration and Boehler hear the criticism – but in private, not in public.
How would Jerusalem react if senior members of the Trump administration publicly said that Dermer, for instance, essentially does not know what he is doing? True, Smotrich and Dichter were asked point-blank about Boehler, but they should have had the presence of mind to sidestep the question and respond more diplomatically.
The need to keep criticism private when dealing with the US is a good rule of thumb at all times. Why give Israel’s enemies an opportunity to exploit daylight between the countries to their advantage? But this is even more critical when dealing with the current administration.
Everyone saw the way Trump and Vice President JD Vance responded in the Oval Office when Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky contradicted – in front of the cameras – the American policy on Ukraine and negotiations with Russia. Vance explicitly told the Ukrainian president he should not litigate these matters in front of the media. In other words, if you want to disagree, fine, but do it respectfully and in private.
Israel needs to internalize this message, even when it comes to such a sensitive issue as direct talks with Hamas.
Disagreements with the administration will arise; when they do, they should be aired through the many available private channels. In public, however, refrain from calling down Trump administration officials. It’s just not smart; nothing good will come of it.