Israeli president plays down tensions with Washington: Trump is Israel’s number one friend

Israeli President Isaac Herzog called President Donald Trump Israel’s “number 1 friend”, playing down tensions between the two countries over the war in Iran.

“First of all, we have many friends. I think President Trump is number 1. We have an excellent friendship with the administration and with him,” he said.

Herzog’s remarks reflect Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s effort to stress his close ties with Trump, despite disagreements over the Iran war. Netanyahu told the UN General Assembly last week that Israel “had no greater partner than President Trump”.

But these public displays of friendship have been accompanied by signs of friction. Vice President JD Vance, who opposed the war in Iran, said last month that Washington cannot allow its foreign policy to be “subordinate to the state of Israel”.

Trump called Netanyahu “crazy” during a phone call months ago.

The Trump administration also appeared unusually restrained regarding Britain’s announcement earlier this month of Israeli sanctions over settlements. Herzog sharply criticised those sanctions in his interview.

On Thursday, Herzog mentioned a conversation between Trump and Netanyahu a day earlier, describing Trump’s comments regarding an attempted plane hijacking involving a FlyDubai flight as “very encouraging and strengthening”.

The Israeli president also acknowledged that close relations do not exclude disagreements, while also stressing Israel’s friendships with Germany and countries across Latin America, Africa and Asia.

“We can argue with many of our friends. That is what democracy stands for,” Herzog said.