The dramatic meeting between Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and President Donald Trump at the White House has made US allies wonder if they may be the next victims of Trump’s changing mood. For his part, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu may view himself as immune to Trump's wrath but direct Hamas-US talks on a Gaza ceasefire and comments by Adam Boehler, then-Special Presidential Envoy for Hostage Affairs, have reportedly rattled him and his Minister of Strategic Affairs Ron Dermer.
Boehler confirmed that the US held direct talks with Hamas—a US-designated terrorist group since 1997—in Doha over the past few weeks. While the stated goal of the negotiations was to ostensibly negotiate the release of an US-Israeli soldier, still believed to be alive, as well as the bodies of four US-Israeli hostages, the talks appear to have widened and touched upon larger issues regarding the “day after” the war in Gaza.
While the Israeli government claimed it was aware of the talks, Dermer held a call with Boehler reportedly accusing him of sidestepping Israel and ignoring warnings issued by Israel not to engage in direct negotiations with Hamas.
Adding insult to injury, Boehler went on television to defend the direct diplomatic outreach. When asked about Israel’s frustration with the talks during an interview on CNN, Boehler said “we are the US, we’re not Israel’s agents, and we have our own interests”. He even appeared to tone down the general characterisation of Hamas saying “they don’t have horns growing out of their heads; they’re actually guys like us, nice guys”—a characterisation that infuriated many in Israel.
BREAKING:
U.S President Trump hostage envoy Adam Boehler says Hamas are nice guys after the direct negotiations with them:
“They don't have horns growing out of their heads. They're actually pretty nice guys; guys like us and the US is not an agent of Israel” pic.twitter.com/zZEqRba8tQ
— Megatron (@Megatron_ron) March 9, 2025
Later Boehler specified in a post on X, “I want to be clear because some misunderstood — Hamas is a terrorist organisation that has murdered thousands of innocent people. By definition, they are bad people”.
The (relatively discrete) spat between Israel and the US is notable and beyond anecdotal. If the Biden administration had made the same actions and statements, Israel would likely have reacted in a very different, and public manner.
Cautious approach
The lack of a public response, and Israeli statements toning down what could have easily been a major crisis, show Netanyahu’s cautious approach towards the Trump administration. In fact, neither side wants to air their grievances in public. This is generally a sound diplomatic approach but differs from what Netanyahu did with Biden or what Trump did with Zelenskyy.
Boehler later withdrew his nomination to serve as special presidential envoy for hostage affairs, but said he would continue to manage the file from a lower-level position that does not require Senate confirmation, perhaps to avoid further scrutiny.