Why the proposed Iran framework is causing many Israelis to question something far larger than a single deal.

Something feels different this morning.

Israel and the United States have disagreed before. We have argued over settlements, military operations, negotiations, ceasefires, and regional strategy for decades. American presidents and Israeli prime ministers have frustrated each other long before Donald Trump entered politics.

Yet this morning feels different.

As details continue to emerge regarding the proposed framework with Iran, many Israelis are not simply debating sanctions relief, enrichment levels, ballistic missiles, verification mechanisms, or the future of Iran’s proxy network. They are asking a deeper question:

Do Washington and Jerusalem still define success in the same way?

For decades, Israelis largely operated under a simple assumption. We believed that while American and Israeli leaders might disagree on tactics, timing, and politics, they ultimately viewed existential threats through a similar strategic lens. The methods might differ. The rhetoric might differ. The destination did not.

Today, many Israelis are no longer certain that assumption holds. Whether those concerns ultimately prove justified is almost beside the point. The fact that so many Israelis are asking the question at all is significant.

Because once an assumption that fundamental begins to crack, it forces us to reconsider larger questions. And, the more I thought about it this morning, the more I began to wonder whether what Israelis are experiencing today is part of a broader pattern that extends far beyond the Middle East.

Perhaps the defining story of the Trump era is not a specific policy, agreement, or military operation. Perhaps it is the collapse of assumptions.

America was already polarized before Donald Trump. NATO had burden-sharing disputes before Donald Trump. Israel and the United States disagreed before Donald Trump.

The question is not whether he created these........

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