For Mr Alexander, his family and the many Israelis who have been campaigning for the hostages in Gaza, his release brought relief and joy. For Binyamin Netanyahu, Israel’s prime minister, it was a moment of diplomatic embarrassment.

Israel's right-wing government has maintained a diplomatic silence this week as U.S. President Donald Trump fired off a blizzard of announcements that have shaken Israeli assumptions about their country's standing with its most important ally.

"Young Turks" hosts Ana Kasparian and Cenk Uygur break down Trump envoy Steve Witkoff's comments about Netanyahu being the primary obstacle to achieving peace between Israel and Palestine and praise "refreshing" anti-war sentiment from the "wildcard" Trump administration.

But there is no sign Trump has abandoned Israel. While he skipped Israel on his tour of the Middle East, his rhetoric remains closely aligned with Israeli foreign policy—especially on Iran —reiterating that it must abandon ambitions for developing a nuclear weapon and calling it "destabilizing".

Click here to subscribe.When President Donald Trump met with Syria’s interim President Ahmad al-Sharaa in Saudi Arabia on Wednesday, the encounter went beyond the “hello” the White House had told reporters to expect.

A series of side deals by the U.S. administration is raising questions about how closely in sync the allies are over major challenges in the region.

"The nature of that bilateral relationship—with Israel still reliant upon the military, diplomatic and economic assistance of the United States—is such that the prime minister

New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman says President Trump "made a very good move" in meeting with Syria's interim president and announcing he would lift sanctions on Israel's neighbor.