U.S. President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu met on Monday, December 29, at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida, in what many expected to be a decisive encounter. Expectations were high: Would understandings be reached on Gaza, Iran and the northern front? Would serious disagreements emerge? In the end, the meeting proved to be more of a public-relations moment than a diplomatic breakthrough.

Trump showered Netanyahu with praise, declared that Israel would not exist without him, spoke about a possible pardon by President Isaac Herzog, and left most substantive issues deliberately vague. Yet behind the smiles lie weighty questions: Are the Americans buying time because they are not ready—or because they are preparing the ground for tougher demands later on? Ultimately, this meeting was a classic example of Trump’s method: “softening” the partner in order to extract concessions at a later stage. Netanyahu received an electoral gift, but the bill may arrive soon.

One of the central issues discussed was Gaza. Trump reiterated...

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