President Donald Trump on Monday began a four-day tour of the Middle East, with visits planned in Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and the U.A.E. to “focus on strengthening ties,” through business and trade agreements, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said Friday. One country not on Trump’s itinerary is Israel, despite Israeli Ambassador Yechiel Leiter asking Trump to visit.

The omission follows a series of diplomatic frustrations suggesting that there may be daylight emerging between the once-close allies.

Last Tuesday, the U.S. unilaterally agreed to a ceasefire with the Iran-backed Houthi terrorists in Yemen. The agreement came less than 48 hours after a Houthi missile penetrated Israeli air defenses and struck Ben Gurion Airport, and less than 24 hours after Israel retaliated with strikes on Houthi targets in Yemen.

On Monday, Iranian proxy Hamas agreed to free the last remaining American hostage, Edan Alexander, who is a dual citizen and Israeli soldier, ahead of Trump’s visit. After more than a year of vigorous hostage negotiations with Hamas, Israel reportedly took no part in this negotiation and only learned about it after the outcome was decided.

But these disagreements over Iranian proxies are sideshows compared to Israeli and American policy towards the Iranian regime itself — particularly its clandestine nuclear weapons program. After degrading Iranian proxies and obliterating Iranian air defense systems last year, Israel was rearing for a devastating strike against Iran’s nuclear weapons program as early as this month.

But the Trump administration reined in Israeli enthusiasm in favor of direct negotiations between American officials and Iran (this is likely related to the Trump administration’s internal dissension between foreign policy hawks and apparently ascendant “restrainers” that led to the recent ejection of Mike Waltz from his role as National Security Advisor).

These direct negotiations — in which Israel is not a participant — concluded their fourth round on Sunday. So far, the only agreement reached between the two sides is “to move forward with the talks,” a U.S. official said. According to one report, America’s red lines are that Iran cannot have an enrichment program or centrifuges, and Iran says it would never accept such terms. But America’s position is not always clear; on Wednesday, Trump said he has not yet decided whether Iran would be allowed to enrich uranium under a deal.

“The game plan is to buy time to engage the West in open-ended negotiations, under the premise that the West doesn’t attack when the West is talking,” Iran expert Ilan Berman said on “Washington Watch.” “The Iranians are going to try to draw out the timetable as long as possible.”

American slights have deeply concerned Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who sees Iran obtaining nuclear weapons as an existential threat to Israel. Trump, for his part, is reportedly worried that the IDF’s planned occupation of Gaza will jeopardize his plan for rebuilding Gaza.

On Sunday, Netanyahu struck his sourest tone yet. “I think we’ll have to detox from U.S. security assistance,” he said. The verb “detox” implies there is something harmful in U.S. security assistance, as if Israel’s reliance on America keeps it from achieving its own goals.

For now, Trump’s Middle East trip seems focused on advancing his “America First” agenda. Saudi Arabia and the UAE have already pledged to invest a combined $2 trillion in the U.S. over the next decade, while Qatar is reportedly planning to give a luxury Boeing jet for Trump to use as Air Force One.

Perhaps the disagreements between the Trump administration and Israel are merely differences of style — a lover’s spat that will shortly be resolved by some new breakthrough, like an expansion of the Abraham Accords. Or perhaps there is growing daylight between the Trump administration and Israel, as the advisors who care little for Israel exercise more control over policy.

Either way, the Christian response is the same. We are commanded to take our petitions above the heads of earthly rulers and straight to the King of heaven, offering prayers “for kings and all who are in high positions, that we may lead a peaceful and quiet life, godly and dignified in every way” (1 Timothy 2:2).

In general, Christians can pray with confidence that “the king’s heart is a stream of water in the hand of the Lord; he turns it wherever he will” (Proverbs 21:1). In Monday’s Stand on the Word Bible reading, “the Lord stirred up the spirit of Cyrus king of Persia” (Ezra 1:1) to return Israel home from exile, loaded with gifts, to rebuild the temple. If the Lord holds that kind of sway over the Persian emperor, he likewise rules over the heart of President Donald Trump.