When asked about the snub, he insisted that it wasn’t a snub at all: “This is good for Israel,” Trump said, referring to the alliances he’d be strengthening with countries that were, notably, not named Israel.

Tensions between Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu were already bubbling up before the president visited three of America’s key Arab allies.

Trump cuts ties with Netanyahu over concerns of manipulation, Israeli media reports. According to Israeli Army Radio, the U.S. president stopped direct contact after being told by close aides that Netanyahu was trying to play him.

President Donald Trump‘s first foreign trip of his second term is underway. The president is visiting Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and the United Arab Emirates. But Trump will not be visiting Israel. The exclusion of America’s historic Middle Eastern ally from Trump’s itinerary is a marked example of Trump’s declining sympathy for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu would normally celebrate a hostage release such as that taking place on Monday, though in this case the deal with Hamas is another sign US President Donald Trump is starting to make decisions without him.