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Former Israeli ambassador to the United States Mike Herzog has said Israel’s ability to influence decisions in Washington has declined significantly during President Donald Trump’s current administration. He also warned that support for Israel among the American public has been steadily weakening, creating long term challenges for the country’s relationship with its closest ally. Speaking in an interview with Israeli radio station 103FM, Herzog said the close personal bond that once existed between Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Trump no longer appears as strong as before. While Netanyahu recently described his latest meeting with Trump at the White House as one of their best meetings, Herzog argued that the event should be viewed more carefully. In his opinion, the meeting lacked the warmth and personal interaction that previously defined the relationship between the two leaders. Herzog said one positive outcome for Netanyahu was that Trump avoided publicly criticising Israel or placing any visible demands on the Israeli government during the meeting. He suggested that this helped Netanyahu present the visit as a diplomatic success, particularly as Israel moves closer to national elections. According to Herzog, the prime minister had a political interest in showing that his ties with Trump remain strong despite growing speculation that relations between the two leaders have cooled. The former ambassador also pointed to several details surrounding the visit that, in his view, reflected a more distant relationship. Netanyahu entered the White House through a side entrance instead of receiving a more prominent arrival. There was no private one on one meeting between the leaders and media attention surrounding the visit remained limited. Herzog said these diplomatic signals suggested the White House wanted to avoid creating the impression that Trump was closely aligned with Netanyahu. He linked this cautious approach to political concerns in the United States following the conflict with Iran. Herzog said many Americans believe Israel played a major role in drawing the United States into the confrontation. Since the conflict has been unpopular with parts of the American public, he believes Trump is careful not to appear as though he acted under pressure from the Israeli leadership. Even so, Herzog said there are currently no major disagreements between Washington and Tel Aviv over Iran, although the relationship is no longer as close as it once was. Beyond the immediate political situation, Herzog warned that Israel’s overall standing in the United States has suffered lasting damage. He said changes in American society, political shifts, economic developments, international campaigns against Israel and policy decisions made by successive Israeli governments have all contributed to a steady decline in public support. He also acknowledged that the actions of Israel’s current government and the ongoing military campaign in Gaza have negatively affected how many Americans view the country. Netanyahu himself recently admitted that support for Israel has weakened in the United States, arguing that social media has played a major role in shaping public opinion. His comments came as recent polling showed a noticeable increase in negative attitudes toward both the Israeli government and the Israeli people. A survey conducted by the Pew Research Center found that public opinion has shifted over the past several years. The percentage of Americans holding unfavourable views of the Israeli people rose from 28 percent in 2019 to 42 percent in 2026. During the same period, favourable views of the Israeli government fell from 41 percent to 32 percent. International criticism of Israel has also intensified since the war in Gaza began in October 2023. In November 2024, the International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants for Prime Minister Netanyahu and former Defence Minister Yoav Gallant on allegations of war crimes and crimes against humanity linked to Israel’s military operations in Gaza. According to reported figures, more than 73,000 people have been killed during the conflict, which has continued despite a truce agreement reached in October 2025.

The United States has accused Chinese artificial intelligence company Moonshot AI of illegally using technology from a leading American AI developer, escalating tensions between the world’s two largest technology powers. The allegations were made by White House Science and Technology adviser Michael Kratsios, who claimed the Chinese company copied the capabilities of a US model to develop its own advanced AI system. Kratsios said Moonshot AI used a technique known as distillation to build its recently unveiled Kimi K3 model. Distillation is a process in which a smaller or less advanced AI model repeatedly interacts with a more powerful model to learn from its responses and improve its own performance. While the technique has legitimate uses within companies that own both models, using it to copy another company’s proprietary system without permission could violate intellectual property rights. According to Kratsios, the US government has information indicating that Moonshot AI extracted capabilities from Anthropic’s AI technology during the development of Kimi K3. He also alleged that the company gained access to restricted Nvidia servers powered by the advanced GB300 Grace Blackwell computing platform, despite US export controls designed to limit China’s access to cutting edge semiconductor technology. Moonshot AI has not publicly responded to the accusations. The Chinese embassy in Washington, Anthropic, Nvidia, and the White House had also not issued detailed comments following the allegations. The claims come just days after Moonshot AI introduced Kimi K3, an advanced open source language model that attracted global attention for its strong performance. Many industry experts said the model significantly narrowed the gap between Chinese and American AI technology. Moonshot described Kimi K3 as being capable of competing with some of the most advanced AI systems developed in the United States. The allegations have intensified concerns within Washington over the protection of American technology. US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent recently said authorities are investigating whether Chinese AI companies have copied the capabilities of American competitors through large scale distillation efforts. He warned that sanctions remain an option if Chinese firms are found to have engaged in intellectual property theft. Bessent said the United States supports open source artificial intelligence because it encourages innovation and wider access to technology. However, he stressed that open source development does not give companies permission to copy protected American research or commercial products. The dispute comes at a sensitive time in US China relations. President Donald Trump is expected to meet Chinese President Xi Jinping in September as both countries continue negotiations on trade, technology, and security issues. Artificial intelligence has become one of the most important areas of competition between the two nations. The United States first imposed restrictions on exports of Nvidia’s most advanced AI chips to China in 2022 over concerns that the technology could strengthen China’s military capabilities. Since then, governments have increased efforts to prevent the illegal transfer and smuggling of high performance semiconductor chips into China. Moonshot AI plans to release Kimi K3 as an open source model on July 27, allowing developers around the world to download, modify, and build applications using the software. The planned release has generated significant interest because it would become one of the largest freely available AI models developed by a Chinese company. The latest accusations are not the first involving Anthropic. Earlier this year, the American AI company accused Chinese technology giant Alibaba of using similar distillation methods to copy the capabilities of its Claude AI models. Anthropic urged US lawmakers to strengthen legal protections for American AI technology and introduce tougher penalties for companies found to be stealing intellectual property. The White House has also announced broader measures to protect American innovation from foreign cyber and technology theft. Officials say the government is working more closely with leading AI companies to detect and prevent organised efforts aimed at copying proprietary research. As investigations continue, the allegations against Moonshot AI are expected to become another major issue in the growing technological rivalry between the United States and China.