The Deep State Turns on Netanyahu

A great honor was bestowed upon Benjamin Netanyahu when, this past February, he became the first foreign leader to visit the White House after Donald Trump’s reelection. He returned home energized and invigorated. His bet on Trump had paid off — big time. The gift Trump offered Netanyahu? A fantastical plan to transfer two million Gazans out of the Strip and turn Gaza into a flourishing Riviera. And Netanyahu, true to form, didn’t hesitate to present this dangerous delusion as his long-awaited “day after” vision — a plan the army and the opposition had long demanded from him.

The warm ties with the White House gave Netanyahu the sense that he was on top of the world. After all, Trump had won the election despite a conviction for sexual assault, with more cases pending over his attempts to overturn the 2020 election, won clearly by Joe Biden, and his role in the January 6 Capitol riot. If Trump could beat the system, why not Netanyahu? All he had to do to extricate himself from his ongoing corruption trial was to mimic Trump: launch an all-out assault on the judiciary, the police, the prosecution, and the media — and aggressively push forward with a judicial overhaul, just as Trump had undermined American democratic institutions.

But there’s a key difference between Trump and Netanyahu. Trump rode into the White House backed by a populist movement centered around the conspiracy theory of the “deep state”: a clandestine alliance of Democrats, state institutions, the Justice Department, and national security agencies that, according to the theory, colluded to distort the will of the people and steal the election. In fact, nearly half of Americans believe the 2020 election was rigged, and that President Biden’s win was illegitimate.

Trump repeatedly declared that if reelected, he would dismantle the deep state. And indeed, upon his return to the White House, he surrounded himself with conspiracy theorists and shadowy operatives, appointing them to some of the most sensitive posts. The Attorney General, the FBI Director, the Deputy Director, and other senior officials worked tirelessly to delegitimize the very institutions that form the foundation of American democracy.

Netanyahu, as we know, has always believed that what’s good for America is good for Israel — and what’s good for Trump is definitely good for Bibi. In a speech to the Knesset, he even recounted whispering to Trump during his White House visit that “Israel has a deep state too.” Trump’s response was never disclosed — but surely, a con man knows a fellow con man when he sees one.

Not long after their meeting, in March 2025, Netanyahu posted on X (formerly Twitter) in Hebrew:

“In America and in Israel, when a strong right-wing leader wins elections, the deep state — serving the left — manipulates the justice system to thwart the will of the people. They will not win. Not in Israel, not in America. We stand strong together.”

Sara Netanyahu joined the chorus. In an interview with Trump’s daughter-in-law, Lara Trump, on Fox News, she aired her grievances, describing Israel’s deep state as:

“Relatively small radical-left elites, funded by foreign governments, holding key positions of influence. They use other means — particularly abuse of the judicial system — to try and topple a democratically elected government.”
And with a nod to the host, she added:
“Look at what they did to President Trump and his family. They did the same to my husband, to our family, to our sons — bringing ridiculous, false charges.”

But here’s where the plot twists. It turns out that the Trump-Netanyahu alliance may not be helping either of them. Last week, Pandora’s box was opened, and the chaos inside is now spreading fast. Trump and Netanyahu, both self-styled victims of the deep state, are now at the center of a strange and stormy scandal consuming the U.S.: the Jeffrey Epstein files — the same ones that have been the foundation of Trump’s favorite conspiracy narrative on his road back to the presidency.

For those less familiar with the intricacies of American politics, Jeffrey Epstein was a businessman arrested for running a sex-trafficking ring of underage girls with Ghislaine Maxwell, daughter of media tycoon Robert Maxwell (once the owner of Israel’s Maariv daily). Epstein died by suicide in jail in 2019 before his trial began. He was known to fly prominent figures to his private island in the Caribbean, where underage girls were allegedly kept as sex slaves. His acquaintances included Bill Clinton, Britain’s Prince Andrew, Israeli ex-Prime Minister Ehud Barak, and many celebrities and business moguls. Trump and Melania were also photographed socializing with Epstein.

How did Netanyahu manage to drag Trump into what Trump’s base calls a reckless military adventure? Enter Epstein — again. The conspiracy theory now claims Epstein was a Mossad agent, evidenced by his ties to Ghislaine Maxwell and her father’s alleged Mossad links. From there, it’s a short leap to accusing Israel of holding the Epstein files and using them to blackmail Trump and other officials. Because how else, the theory goes, could Israel have persuaded Trump to attack Iran against his will?

According to the conspiracy theory, Epstein held on to incriminating footage and client lists — mostly Democrats — to blackmail them. During his campaign, Trump promised to reveal everything. Once elected, he appointed Pam Bondi as Attorney General and Kash Patel to head the FBI, tasking them with following through. But despite their early declarations that the Epstein files were “on their desks,” they abruptly announced that no such files existed.

So where does Netanyahu fit into all this?

He has no direct link to Epstein — and yet, somehow, he may end up as the story’s main casualty. The rift between Trump and far-right media firebrands Tucker Carlson and Steve Bannon blew wide open following Israel’s recent strike on Iran. Israel’s successful elimination of top Iranian military and nuclear officials, and its near-total control of Tehran’s airspace, put the Trump administration in a difficult spot.

Initially, Trump distanced himself from the attack, claiming he wasn’t in the loop. But once the military achievement became clear, he flipped and sought to bask in the glory. That decision sparked backlash from his own base. Bannon was spotted entering the White House just before the American strike. Carlson warned of U.S. entanglement — even the risk of triggering World War III. The far right began accusing Trump of being manipulated by Netanyahu, who was dragging him into another Middle East war — despite Trump’s campaign promises to avoid conflict and pursue a new nuclear deal with Iran.

Which begs the question: how did Netanyahu manage to drag Trump into what Trump’s base calls a reckless military adventure? Enter Epstein — again. The conspiracy theory now claims Epstein was a Mossad agent, evidenced by his ties to Ghislaine Maxwell and her father’s alleged Mossad links. From there, it’s a short leap to accusing Israel of holding the Epstein files and using them to blackmail Trump and other officials. Because how else, the theory goes, could Israel have persuaded Trump to attack Iran against his will?

Former Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett’s public denial — that Epstein had no links to Mossad and that Israel possesses no such lists — didn’t help. The conspiratorial genie was already out of the bottle. Trump’s denials and his attempts to dismiss the scandal as a Democratic hoax were met with scorn and disbelief from right-wing influencers whose blogs boast millions of followers.

Now, the hard-right Freedom Caucus in Congress is jumping on the wave, demanding steep cuts to Israel’s defense aid. Their argument: Israelis enjoy high living standards and universal healthcare, while Americans suffer under crushing costs and a broken system. Why, they ask, should billions of taxpayer dollars continue to flow to Israel? America First, once directed at the rest of the world, has now been turned inward — at Israel.

In a final twist of irony, the very deep state narrative that carried Trump to power is now being turned against him. Millions who once believed his every lie now follow his far-right successors, who claim Trump himself is being blackmailed by Netanyahu — the same Netanyahu they say is stirring conflict in Gaza, Yemen, Lebanon, Iran, and now Syria.

And they are not alone. The progressive left in the Democratic Party — and even parts of the center — have long soured on Netanyahu. Now it seems he and Israel are losing what little bipartisan support remained in Congress.

This shift is already influencing Trump’s foreign policy recalibrations, with increased emphasis on ties with Saudi Arabia, Qatar, even Turkey. Trump finds himself ensnared in his own web of falsehoods, while Netanyahu’s grand bet increasingly looks like a broken reed. The departure of ultra-Orthodox factions from the Israeli government, and threats of a far-right exit over ongoing hostage negotiations with Hamas, suggest Netanyahu’s ship of state is slowly sinking in the murky waters it created — and the rats are already looking for safer shores.

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