4 hours ago
3
You have a preview view of this article while we are checking your access. When we have confirmed access, the full article content will load.
News Analysis
As Israel mounts a major Gaza offensive, President Trump has neither urged restraint nor endorsed the action, which Israel’s leader has taken as an implicit green light to proceed.
Michael Crowley traveled to Israel and Qatar with Secretary of State Marco Rubio this week.
Sept. 16, 2025, 5:28 p.m. ET
When Israel prepared in early 2024 to mount a military assault on the densely populated Gaza city of Rafah, Biden administration officials attempted to shape the operation, threatening to block the shipment of American weapons unless Israel developed a “credible and executable” plan to protect civilian lives.
It has been a different story under President Trump as Israel began a punishing ground offensive into a densely populated Gaza City on Tuesday.
As several major nations warned Israel about dire civilian casualties and the risk of prolonging the war in Gaza, Mr. Trump has been mostly a bystander, neither urging Israel to show restraint nor giving it his approval. Outside the White House on Tuesday, he said he had not discussed the matter with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel, and when asked if supported the offensive, the president said, “Well I have to see — I don’t know too much about it.”
Casting himself as a global peacemaker, Mr. Trump has repeatedly called for a stop to the nearly two-year Gaza war. But where he once publicly pressed Israel to end the conflict, he now appears content to look on as it escalates.
Because of the enormous leverage created by U.S. military aid to Israel, only an American president could slow Mr. Netanyahu, and Mr. Trump’s inaction amounts to a free pass for the Israeli leader.
Image
