The two great wars of the USA coincide in Washington

WashingtonThe protagonists of the United States' main foreign fronts will cross paths this Tuesday in Washington to bid farewell to the same man. Both Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky will attend the funeral of Republican Senator Lindsey Graham. The politician, who died on July 11, was one of the staunchest defenders of military support for Kyiv and Tel Aviv. The other man both leaders plan to see is U.S. President Donald Trump. Both will do so in the midst of two stalemated wars.

Netanyahu will visit the White House for the eighth time since his partner returned to power. But this time, the Israeli leader is traveling with a much heavier suitcase: he carries a double crisis, both in his personal relationship with the tycoon and in his relationship with Americans. The entrenchment of the war in Iran has brought to the fore the divergence of objectives between the two leaders, while it has continued to fuel the negative perception of Americans towards Israel and its genocide in Gaza fueling the negative perception of Americans towards Israel and its genocide in Gaza. Last July 15, in a historic move, more than 100 Democrats voted in Congress in favor of ending military aid to Tel Aviv.

When Netanyahu and Trump first bombed Tehran, in late February, the polls were far away. The Republican said the military campaign would last four weeks at most, but now his ally visits him in the midst of summer with the war still ongoing and with the legislative elections breathing down both their necks. Polls predict that by the end of October, the coalition on which the Israeli leader rests would lose its majority in the Knesset, and by early November, the outlook is not much different for Republicans in the Capitol. Democrats are highly likely to regain the House of Representatives, and the race for control of the Senate has become competitive for both parties.

Whatever happens in October in the Israeli legislative elections, the outcome of the US elections will continue to be important for the new government in Tel Aviv. If the rejection of sending weapons to Israel continues to grow within the Democratic Party, and Democrats win even one of the two chambers, the military aid the country receives could encounter real obstacles.

Netanyahu returns to the White House aware of the landscape and with the aim of once again leveraging his friendship with Trump as a political asset. This Monday, Trump was again trying to approach the Iranians after having stopped the bombings over the weekend and assured that talks had resumed. After more than ten days of consecutive cross-border attacks, the cessation of hostilities in the region has given markets a slight respite and has cleared the stage for diplomatic efforts. However, both Washington and Tehran deny that the silence of the cannons constitutes a ceasefire.

"If we don't reach an agreement, we will go back to where we were," Trump said this Monday before boarding Air Force One. The pressure of oil prices, with the Strait of Hormuz blocked again and the Houthis threatening with close the Red Sea too, it forces the magnate again in this direction. An objective that continues to disagree with Israel's interests, which since the first negotiation attempt has seen a peace agreement as a way to strengthen Tehran in the region.

Beyond Trump calling Netanyahu "crazy" and saying he is "a difficult guy," the disagreement has also been evident in Israel's marginalization from peace talks. Tel Aviv has become a secondary player that, despite the Republican saying he will do as he is told, continues to act unilaterally. The bombings in southern Lebanon, violating one of the original points of the ceasefire with Iran, were an example of this.

In search of a new ally

If Israel has seen bipartisan support in the US Congress break down, Ukraine has seen its main defender within the tycoon's circle disappear. Zelensky arrives in Washington after Russia has intensified its aerial attacks within Ukrainian territory. During the NATO summit in Ankara, the last time Trump and Zelensky met, both leaders already discussed the possibility of increasing US support for Ukrainian air defenses.

One of the big headlines that emerged during the meeting in Turkey was the possibility that Trump would allow Kyiv to manufacture its own Patriot missiles. Although this is a measure with a very distant horizon.

Orphaned of a patron within the Trumpist world, Ukrainians have turned to another of the totems of the MAGA world and one of the figures most opposed to supporting Ukraine: the far-right "influencer Laura Loomer. Despite not holding a government position, Loomer is a figure who enjoys influence within the White House. It was she who caused Mike Waltz to fall as the president's National Security Advisor following the Signalgate scandal.

Recently, Loomer traveled to Ukraine, where she interviewed Zelensky, and it seems her view of the country has changed. In a post on X, she said that one of the reasons she opposed sending aid to Kyiv was because she "believed Ukraine was a country full of Nazis," but that after visiting it in person this has changed: "I traveled to Ukraine and learned firsthand how [...] Nazism is actually illegal in Ukraine".