Donate
Culture

Trump’s big-league Middle East trip through the eyes of an Israeli satirist

The World
Trump pointing at dove.

 You hide between the cigars and the pink champagne.

Uri Fink

Israeli cartoonists highlight President Donald Trump's orange-ness as much as their American counterparts do — but the slant of their drawings is decidedly local.

In advance of Trump's visit to the country next week, comic artist and political cartoonist Uri Fink says every detail of the president's itinerary has been scrutinized and argued over by the Israeli press. And at this point, it seems Israelis across the political spectrum have something to worry about.

Like Trump's interest in visiting the Western Wall. It's one of the holiest places on earth for Jews and it sits adjacent to one of the holiest places in the world for Muslims, the al Aqsa Mosque compound. "He wanted to coordinate it with Israeli authorities," says Fink. "The US embassy said you can’t do that. The Western Wall is part of the Palestinian territory. The US Embassy didn’t want him to take anyone to Western Wall."

Fink’s imagined solution: take Israeli supermodel Bar Refaeli for the visit.

Bar Refaeli standing behind Donald Trump.

In the cartoon, Refaeli purrs in Hebrew: "I can't resist a 70-year-old American with a big mouth." (In real life, the supermodel tagged along with rocker Steven Tyler during his recent visit to Israel.)

Then there's the "Trumpoline" effect, as Fink calls it. The satirist says that after Trump was elected, right-wing Israelis and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu were elated. “They were jumping up and down from happiness on the Trumpoline. 'Here [Trump] comes. The messiah. Someone who gets us. Somebody who understands the settlements. We can get away with anything now,'" he says. But then the Trumpoline started to tear. Fink explains his take: "Trump suddenly gets along very well with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas. Sean Spicer forgets the 'Holocaust centers.' Suddenly everthing falls apart. The Trumpoline is torn now and people are falling on their asses."
Right wing Israelis were jumping all over the Trumpoline when Donald Trump was first elected. But now there are tears in the Trumpoline and conservative Israelis aren't so sure he's their man.
Netanyahu was hugely hopeful that Trump would represent a new era in Israel-US relations. The Israeli prime minister loathed the Obama administration. Fink notes the change in attitude toward the White House in this next drawing, showing the Obama dartboard being replaced with a fresh one featuring the new American president.
The caption reads, "A changing of the guard at the Prime Minister Netanyahu's office":
A changing of the guard at the Prime Minister Netanyahu's office.
Trump is known for his deal-making and his transactional approach to foreign policy. Fink says many Israelis are worried that the American president will offer a take-it-or-leave-it deal to the Palestinians and Israelis, minus any nuance. 
Fink's cartoons on that theme include "President Trump in the interrogation room":
President Trump in the interrogation room.
Will you support The World today?

The story you just read is available for free because thousands of listeners and readers like you generously support our nonprofit newsroom. Every day, reporters and producers at The World are hard at work bringing you human-centered news from across the globe. But we can’t do it without you: We need your support to ensure we can continue this work for another year.

Make a gift today, and you’ll get us one step closer to our goal of raising $25,000 by June 14. We need your help now more than ever!