After three days of hard fighting during the 1967 Middle East War, a division of Israeli paratroopers routed Jordanian soldiers to recapture the Western Wall. As exhausted soldiers knelt in prayer at the remnants of the Jewish Temple, their jubilant lieutenant general announced to all of Israel that the “the Temple Mount is in our hands.”
Fifty years after the end of a war the Jewish state didn’t start, U.S. national security adviser H.R. McMaster described Israeli control of the wall as “a policy decision.” It was a damaging non-answer punctuating an already disastrous press conference.
In little more than 15 minutes, McMaster not only called into question the president’s capacity to handle classified intelligence, he also strained U.S.-Israeli ties ahead of Trump’s visit to the country.
While Trump was a strong backer of Israel during the campaign, he has cooled on the Jewish State since taking office. The first shock came in February when Trump unexpectedly suggested to Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu that he “hold back on settlements” on the West Bank.
Many had expected that Trump would repair U.S.-Israeli ties that had frayed significantly under Obama. Those hopes seem dashed Monday after a U.S. diplomat, who was preparing the way for Trump’s visit, reportedly suggested that the wall isn’t in the Jewish state’s capitol.
The White House quickly tried cleaning up that incident Monday night, telling the Times of Israel that the diplomat’s comments about the Western Wall “were not authorized communication and they do not represent the position of the United States and certainly not of the president.”
But then McMaster stepped in it again with his non-answer and the timing couldn’t be worse. Less than an hour after he wrapped up the briefing, the New York Times reported that Israel provided the secret intelligence to the U.S. that Trump carelessly gave to the Russians.
For a Republican who promised to be a friend of Israel, it’s difficult to imagine how things could get worse. In less than a week, the White House has offended Israeli sensibilities, compromised their intelligence gathering, and called into question their national identity.
Taken together, each of these careless mistakes show how control of the international situation continues to slip through Trump’s fingers.
Philip Wegmann is a commentary writer for the Washington Examiner.
