Israeli Press Failed to See Trump's Game-Changing Move – Here's Why

A former senior Israeli military intelligence officer has criticized the Israeli media's coverage of the recent Trump-Netanyahu press conference, arguing that journalists failed to grasp a historic shift in U.S. Middle East policy.

In an exclusive interview with Maariv, Reserve Lieutenant Colonel Amit Yagur, who served as deputy head of the Palestinian Arena in the IDF Planning Division and held a senior position in Naval Intelligence, offered a sharp critique of the press conference's coverage and its broader implications.

"What we witnessed will be recorded in the annals of Israeli history," Yagur emphasized. "For years, we've worked tirelessly to secure explicit pro-Israeli statements from U.S. presidents – not just expressions of shared values, but commitments to concrete action. Last night marked a genuine transformation."

Yagur highlighted what he sees as a fundamental paradigm shift in American foreign policy. "For the first time, we're seeing an American administration that no longer feels compelled to maintain a careful balance with the Arab world," he explained. "The Palestinian issue is no longer driving Middle East foreign policy in Trump's vision. Instead, he views it as an obstacle to establishing a new regional order."

The former intelligence officer pointed to Trump's comment about avoiding repetition of past failures as particularly significant. "As Trump put it, 'you don't keep doing the same bad thing over and over,'" Yagur noted, though he added cautiously that "we'll need to wait and see how this translates on the ground."

Media Criticism

Yagur reserved his sharpest criticism for Israeli journalists present at the press conference, arguing they fundamentally misread the significance of the moment. "Anyone who listened to the Israeli journalists' questions could see they completely missed the event's historical importance," he said. "They fixated almost exclusively on questions about Gaza Palestinians, the Palestinian state, and the Palestinian future."

He expressed frustration that reporters failed to probe Trump's broader vision for a new Middle East, Israel's security concerns regarding Lebanon and Syria, and specific ways the U.S. plans to support Israel. Even when discussing normalization with Saudi Arabia, Yagur noted, journalists focused solely on the Palestinian state prerequisite rather than exploring the broader strategic implications.

"Beyond simply missing the magnitude of the moment for Israel, this reflects a troubling bias among our media opinion shapers," Yagur concluded. "It's particularly disappointing to see this narrow focus persisting even after October 7."

As the implications of the Trump-Netanyahu meeting continue to unfold, Yagur's analysis suggests that the real significance of the press conference may lie not in the answers given, but in the questions that weren't asked.