As Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu arrived in Washington on Tuesday for his seventh visit to the United States since President Donald Trump's second inauguration, a comprehensive review by Israeli newspaper Haaretz has laid bare a striking pattern: a trail of grand promises made at previous meetings that have gone largely unfulfilled.
According to Haaretz, which revisited all six prior encounters between the two leaders at the White House and Mar-a-Lago over the past 18 months, nearly every major pledge made publicly has failed to materialize.
The pattern began on February 4, 2025, when Trump announced plans to "take over the Gaza Strip" and transform it into the "Riviera of the Middle East," while proposing the relocation of Gaza's entire Palestinian population. As Haaretz reports, the U.S. never took control of Gaza, no mass transfer occurred, and both Egypt and Jordan publicly refused to participate.
Trade promises have similarly fallen short. During an April 2025 meeting, Netanyahu vowed to "eliminate the trade deficit with the United States." Haaretz notes that while the deficit has been reduced, it still stands at $2.36 billion in 2026, with non-tariff barriers remaining in place.
The September 29, 2025 meeting produced perhaps the most sweeping declarations. Trump called it "potentially one of the greatest days ever in civilization," announcing what he described as "peace in the Middle East." He promised Hamas would be disarmed, Gaza demilitarized, and Israeli forces would withdraw in phases. Ten months later, Haaretz reports that Hamas retains influence over much of the Strip, Israel has actually expanded its territorial control from 53 to approximately 64 percent of Gaza, and the U.S.-backed civilian administration has yet to assume full authority.
Trump's claim that the U.S. and Israel had "obliterated Iran's nuclear enrichment capacity" also proved premature. Haaretz documents that Iran maintained a substantial missile arsenal, prompting a new U.S.-Israeli war against Iran in February 2026.
Perhaps the most consequential broken promise, according to Haaretz, was made behind closed doors in February 2026. Citing Maggie Haberman and Jonathan Swann's book "Regime Change: Inside the Imperial Presidency of Donald Trump," Haaretz reports that Netanyahu privately assured Trump that Iran's regime could be toppled, suggesting Kurdish fighters would invade from Iraq. American officials reportedly viewed the plan as "detached from reality." The regime did not fall, and disruptions around the Strait of Hormuz continue to plague the global economy.
Even smaller pledges have gone unmet. Trump's repeated calls for Israeli President Isaac Herzog to pardon Netanyahu in his corruption trial have yielded no result, and expansion of the Abraham Accords has stalled, with only Kazakhstan joining – a country that already had diplomatic ties with Israel since 1992.
Netanyahu's latest trip, Haaretz notes, broke with custom as the prime minister barred journalists from accompanying him and arrived without the traditional honor guard, entering through a side entrance typically reserved for staff. His arrival was met by protests organized by pro-Palestinian and liberal Jewish groups.
Photo: Haaretz