Starting By Deleting Trump's Photo On Twitter, Israeli PM Netanyahu's Move To Distance Himself From His Gnarly Allies

Netanyahu and Trump in the South courtyard of the White House after signing the normalization of relations between Israel and a number of Middle Eastern neighbors (Tom Brenner / Reuters, Antara)

JAKARTA - Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu removed a picture of the President of the United States (US) Donald Trump from a banner photo on his Twitter account, Tuesday, January 12. Many analysts have argued that Netanyahu's move was a measure to distance himself from Trump, a political ally facing possible impeachment.

The photo of Netanyahu sitting next to Trump at a meeting at the White House has long been a source of pride on the official @netanyahu account. The photo reflects the conservative leader's close relationship with Trump.

The photo also shows Trump's popularity in Israel. On Tuesday morning, another photo was posted over the account page. The photo shows Netanyahu being injected with the coronavirus vaccine, along with the slogan of the Israeli vaccine injection campaign: Israelis, we come back to life ".

Netanyahu previously posted a photo of a meeting with Trump, with whom he has pursued a tough policy against Iran and Palestine. The photo is still posted on the site, even after Trump's defeat to Joe Biden in the US presidential election in November.

The photo was briefly replaced in December with a holiday themed image of Hanukkah, fueling media speculation that Netanyahu has decided to distance himself from Trump. However, when the eight-day Jewish festival ended, Trump's image resurfaced even though he was no longer alone with Netanyahu in a photo.

Instead, Netanyahu posted a banner image of himself with the president and foreign ministers of the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain in a position to sign an agreement on formalizing relations with Israel at the White House in September 2020. No explanation was given on Netanyahu's website about the loss of Trump's image.

What is clear is that the deletion of the photo was carried out a day before the US House of Representatives is expected to begin considering a second impeachment after the attack on the Capitol building last week. Meanwhile, Trump's own Twitter account on Friday, January 8 was permanently suspended by Twitter because it was judged to carry the risk of further incitement to violence.

In televised remarks on Thursday, January 7, Netanyahu called the attacks on the Capitol a "rampage." He also said he was confident American democracy would win.