Khaberni - When Donald Trump declared on Axios that one of his goals in ending the Gaza war was to restore Israel's international stance, it was not merely a diplomatic statement, but a direct criticism of Israel’s policy. He said that Netanyahu went too far, that Israel had lost widespread support globally, and that he alone could restore it through a model approach in the style of Trump, the American cowboy, and dealmaker who rectifies what others have ruined.
But behind this excessive confidence lies a far more complex equation. Israel’s image didn't just decline due to Netanyahu's personal decisions but as a result of the approach of an extreme right-wing government that led to a devastating war that killed thousands, displaced millions, and created a humanitarian crisis described by UN officials as the worst in decades. No change in discourse can erase the images of destruction in Gaza nor the anger that has swept universities, protest squares, and has been reflected on newspaper pages around the world.
The latest polls illustrate the depth of the crisis. According to a Pew Research Center survey in June 2025, a majority of citizens in 24 countries expressed a negative view of Israel and its leadership. In Western Europe, public support for Israel reached its lowest, with YouGov polls showing a net negative view of 44% in Germany, 55% in Spain, and 46% in Britain. In the United States, a Gallup survey in July 2025 found that only 32% support Israeli military action in Gaza, the lowest level since the start of the war, with even more significant declines among youth and Democrats.
This retreat was not just reflected in numbers; massive demonstrations were witnessed in Western capitals, an academic boycott against Israeli universities expanded, and governments faced pressures to suspend arms exports. The French newspaper Le Monde spoke of an unprecedented wave of boycotts affecting researchers and Israeli institutions.
Trump's calculations assume that Washington can still turn the scales if it re-grants Israel the badge of legitimacy, which would then be followed by Western governments. However, this does not guarantee bridging the gap with public opinion as governments in Berlin, Paris, and London cannot swim against the current for long. Moreover, the challenge relates not only to diplomacy, as the war has led to lawsuits before the International Court of Justice and the International Criminal Court, which are legal and institutional files that cannot be whitewashed with political discourse or media campaigns.
Trump’s criticism of Netanyahu is not a defense of the Palestinians but a display to re-market himself as a savior appealing to his evangelical base and attracting a broader American electorate with a clear ambition to win the Nobel Peace Prize. Trump’s political history exposes his intentions from moving the embassy to Jerusalem and cutting aid to the Palestinians, making his image as a neutral mediator questionable, and in the end, what matters to him is enhancing his image and obtaining international fame, not justice or peace.
The biggest challenge for any U.S. administration is that the global context has changed significantly over the decades; support for Israel was once consistent in the Western lexicon, but the Gaza war broke this rule. Today, skepticism toward Israel is a prevailing sentiment among broad segments of public opinion in Europe and is rapidly growing among younger generations in America.
Restoring Israel's image will not be achieved through diplomatic pressure alone but by its ability to change its field behavior from stopping the targeting of civilians and facilitating humanitarian aid to revisiting long-standing occupation policies. Without that, any attempt to rehabilitate will remain superficial and fragile.
Trump’s plan essentially seems to be an attempt to exploit the Israeli crisis to enhance his global image and personal ambition to win a more significant peace prize than a genuine project to achieve justice for Palestinians. He may succeed in restoring some official alliances, but regaining legitimacy in the eyes of the people is a completely different issue. The world after Gaza is not what it was before, and what Israel has lost cannot be reclaimed through electoral promises or grand speeches.
