Is Trump a 'broken reed of a staff'?

On Monday 7 April, Israel’s Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, was called to Washington D.C. for a lightning visit with U.S. President Donald Trump. We here in Israel had high hopes that this meeting would yield some progress on a number of issues: the nuclear threat of Iran, the freeing of the 59 Israeli hostages still held in Gaza, the resolution of the Gaza war and the matter of the 17% trade tariff that the US has slammed on Israel threatening our economy. Instead, Trump took the opportunity in front of the world’s cameras to announce that the U.S. and Iran were entering into ‘direct’ negotiations with the intention of resolving the Iranian nuclear threat by forging yet another deal. 

We here in Israel were shocked by this announcement. We had been so relieved when Trump was elected President, he who is so vocal as a friend of Israel, and who promised whole-hearted support for our war against terror. He would speak out against the United Nations’ unwarranted accusations and the slander of the nations, and send us the munitions and weapons we need. And he has done so. We are grateful for that, but there is a price to pay, and it is becoming evident that that price is a loss of our autonomy. Israel was not consulted about these talks with Iran; Netanyahu was not even informed until just hours before it was announced at the press conference. This is not how you treat your ‘friends’ and allies.

Many here fear that Iran’s agreement to enter into ‘negotiations’ may be merely a play for time giving the Iranians opportunity to rearm their defense systems and complete the manufacture of nuclear weapons with which they will first attack Israel, the ‘little Satan’, and then the U.S. and Europe, the ‘big Satan’. The Iranian regime has made no secret of its intentions, and we would be foolish to underrate their ability and desire to do just as they say. 

It appears to me that Trump is eager to make a deal with Iran to make good on his promise to stop all wars during his term in office, and to go down in history as the ‘peacemaker’ who brought peace to the whole world. In his inaugural speech, Trump proclaimed, 

“We will measure our success not only by the battles we win, but also by the wars that we end, and perhaps most importantly, the wars we never get into.

My proudest legacy will be that of a peacemaker and unifier. That’s what I want to be, a peacemaker and a unifier.”

Trump wants peace at any cost, and it may be Israel that pays the greatest part of that cost. He also wants to be a ‘unifier’, but what unity can exist between an ideology of hatred, which calls for the death of all infidels, and the conquest of all infidel nations - including Israel, Europe and the USA - and those ‘infidels’ themselves? We should not attempt to ‘make a deal’ with an evil regime energized and motivated by Satan; we must, instead, destroy it. 

The 2015 nuclear deal with Iran, formally known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) was not worth the paper it was written on. The Iranian regime lied to the inspectors of the supervisory International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), moved its nuclear programs deeper underground and continued enriching uranium and developing their nuclear program. They clearly cannot be trusted, so why attempt to make another deal with them now? 

In Islam there is a principle called Taqiyya by which it is permissible, even obligatory, to lie and dissimilate if it will further the fulfilment of Allah’s commandments, such as for the purpose of Jihad, which is the quest for global submission to Allah. This means that the radical jihadi Iranian regime may agree to some kind of a deal, but only if it suits their ends, which in the first instance means the destruction of Israel, and in the long term, the conquest of the USA and the whole world for Allah. 

I believe the preferable course of action at this time would be a combined US and Israeli air attack that would destroy Iran’s nuclear installations once and for all, and which would probably precipitate the fall of the ayatollah regime. Already the delay in doing so may have cost us the momentum and opportunity gained by Israel’s destruction of Iran’s air defenses back in October 2024. 

Furthermore, Trump’s ‘deadlines’ and bombastic threats to ‘open the gates of hell’ made loudly to both Hamas and to Iran, have not been followed through. This is no doubt seen as weakness by the radical Islamists of the Middle East.  

What is more, Trump’s bullying attitude and words will only create a ‘push back’, as in Middle Eastern culture saving face is paramount and being shamed by ‘giving in’ is the worst of failures. Surrender is unthinkable. 

Perhaps it is Trump’s plan to provoke an Iranian attack in order to create a pretext for an allied attack on Iran, but if so, it is a dangerous and unnecessary move. We already have a more than sufficient moral imperative. 

Iran has suffered some very embarrassing blows, has lost most of its proxy militias and many senior commanders to Israel, and is suffering a severe economic crisis. A wounded bear is a dangerous animal and one that is backed into a corner, even more so. We cannot underestimate Iran’s anger, determination or military might. Even without nuclear weapons they still have a formidable military machine, and some dangerous and unpredictable allies, including Russia, China and Turkey.

It seems like we never learn from the past. In Zechariah 1:4-5 God tells the people of Jerusalem and Judah, who had just returned from the Babylonian Exile, “Do not be like your ancestors, to whom the earlier prophets proclaimed: This is what the Lord Almighty says: ‘Turn from your evil ways and your evil practices.’ But they would not listen or pay attention to me, declares the Lord. Where are your ancestors now?”

And what was it that the earlier prophets proclaimed? Before the Exile, the prophet Isaiah, for example, warned the people about trusting Egypt to save them;

“’Woe to the obstinate children,’
    declares the Lord,
to those who carry out plans that are not mine,
    forming an alliance, but not by my Spirit,
    heaping sin upon sin; who go down to Egypt
    without consulting me;
who look for help to Pharaoh’s protection,
    to Egypt’s shade for refuge. But Pharaoh’s protection will be to your shame,
    Egypt’s shade will bring you disgrace.

Isaiah 30:1-3 

Behold, you are trusting in Egypt, that broken reed of a staff, which will pierce the hand of any man who leans on it. Such is Pharaoh king of Egypt to all who trust in him.

Isaiah 36:6

Woe to those who go down to Egypt for help,
    who rely on horses,
who trust in the multitude of their chariots
    and in the great strength of their horsemen,
but do not look to the Holy One of Israel,
    or seek help from the Lord... 

Isaiah 31:1.

Egypt failed Israel then, will the U.S. also fail us? Is Trump a staff that will pierce the hand that leans on it? Trump has repeatedly called himself the leader of the free world, clearly seeing himself as the savior and ruler of that ‘free world’, a position he is trying to establish and maintain by threats, manipulation and bullying, making autocratic, one-sided decisions which he unapologetically imposes on other states. We saw this in the imposition of the crippling tariffs he declared on many nations last week. We saw this with his unilateral plan for the relocation of the population of Gaza, and his expressed purpose of “owning” Gaza (how dare he talk of owning part of the God-given territory of Israel?) We see it in the way he is pressuring certain nations to accept Gazan refugees (how many will the USA take in?). And now we see it in his unilateral decision to enter into negotiations with Iran. 

Woe to us today too, if we put our trust in this man, or any man, and not in the LORD God of Israel (YHWH). 

We, Israel as a nation, need to repent and turn to the LORD for help. 

In this lies our hope today as it did in the past. If we trust in man we will fall, but “This is what the Lord Almighty says: ‘Return to me,’ declares the Lord Almighty, ‘and I will return to you (Zechariah 1:2). 

A few days ago we marked the year and a half since the October 7 massacre and the beginning of the war – 550 days of horror and suffering. Our enemies have risen up against us on 7 fronts and even from within as we tear ourselves apart with criticism, anger and protest. Yet, although we have seen supernatural protection again and again during this current war, and we speak publicly of miracles, we seldom name nor give credit to the LORD God who is our shield and hope. 

We as a nation have not destroyed the idols in our midst, the Buddhas and Hindu gods displayed in our homes; we continue to worship eastern deities in our rave festivals and yoga classes; we practice New Age rituals in meditation and mindfulness even in our school rooms. We consult sorcerers and witches. We have not turned away from sexual sin, licentiousness, theft and corruption, violence or even the murder of the unborn. And worst of all, we as a nation have continued to reject Yeshua, the Messiah and the beloved Son of God sent to save us.  

Even so we know that God, though he might send ‘destroyers’ to punish us for a time, and especially so at the end of the age, prior to the return of Yeshua, He will save a remnant of Israel. In Isaiah 54:17, the LORD says,

And it is I who have created the destroyer to wreak havoc;

no weapon forged against you will prevail,
and you will refute every tongue that accuses you.
This is the heritage of the servants of the Lord,
and this is their vindication from me,”
declares the Lord”

But note - this promise is for the servants of the LORD.