SATISH SHARMA - not just Rotigraphy.: "this may be the worst case of abandonment Israel has experienced by the US in its history." There is a sense that everything is aligning against Israel right now.

The Trump administration has announced a massive diplomatic push to sell the Iran deal. It will include visits to the Gulf by Rubio, but not to Israel, which has been bypassed completely: 

1) This is a sign for Israel that even the man they consider their ally is working for the deal and not helping Israel.

2) Israeli officials are terrified by this prospect, the most explicit sign yet Israel and its concerns are being ignored. Former advisor to several Prime Ministers Shalom Lipner said,  "It speaks volumes that Israe, which looks to Rubio as the administration principal most sympathetic to its interests, is not on this itinerary. Trump keeping him away at this time?"

3) Sources in the Netanyahu government have expressed exasperation that Rubio is traveling to pitch a $300 billion reconstruction fund and a framework that leaves Iran's ballistic missilles intact and actively reassuring Gulf states that accommodation won't hurt their survival, while completely ignoring Israeli concerns about the deal. 

4) Instead of a face-to-face bilateral meeting with a visiting Secretary of State, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was forced to accept a remote phone briefing from Rubio. A procedural demotion and a genuine snub. 

5) This comes as Israel has been forced by the US to stop advancing in Lebanon. The New York Times and Ynet published accounts of how the IDF has been given orders just to defend under extreme American pressure. 

A source I talked to in the Israeli Foreign Ministry told me, "this may be the worst case of abandonment Israel has experienced by the US in its history." There is a sense that everything is aligning against Israel right now.