For months, Donald Trump spoke about Iran and Hamas in the language of force, deadlines and destruction. Iran’s nuclear facilities were “obliterated.” Hamas would face “hell to pay.” The hostages would be freed, Hamas terrorists would be crushed, and America’s enemies would learn quickly that Trump was back.

Now Israel is facing a much less dramatic reality. The Iran deal has not closed the Iranian nuclear file, but pushed key questions into another round of negotiations. Hamas has not been wiped out by American pressure, or even disarmed. Hezbollah remains a central threat in Lebanon. And instead of Washington giving Israel a blank check to finish the job, Israel may now find itself under pressure from the same president whose threats once sounded like a promise of full backing.

This is the growing gap between Trump’s words and Trump’s policy. Israel heard obliteration, while Iran got a deal. Israel heard pressure on Hamas, while Hamas survived the deadlines. Israel heard that Iran’s nuclear program had been finished, but now the world is back to discussing oversight, uranium and how to remove it.

Trump threatens first, escalates loudly, creates fear, then cuts a deal. His threats are often not meant as literal promises, but as leverage. Maybe Trump is bluffing Iran now. Maybe he is trying to draw Tehran into a trap. Maybe he wants the uranium issue exposed before he acts again. But Israel cannot build national security policy on maybe.

The Hamas example should have been a warning. Trump repeatedly issued harsh threats over the hostages and spoke as if Hamas could be forced quickly into submission. But the war did not end in 24 hours. The hostages were not all released by his threats alone, even as he took credit for progress. Hamas terrorists were not destroyed by a deadline from Washington. Israel remained the country fighting on the ground, managing international pressure and carrying the burden of a war America could not resolve.

Iran is an even bigger test. Trump’s “obliterated” language suggested the nuclear threat had been decisively handled. But if Iran’s program was truly destroyed, why does the new deal still require negotiations over nuclear material, inspections and compliance? If missiles were part of the threat, why are they now treated as negotiable? And if Hezbollah and Lebanon are folded into a broader framework, Israel may be asked to restrain itself against the same Iranian-backed threats Trump once vowed to crush.

This is where Trump’s broader style becomes relevant. Greenland would be acquired. Canada could become the 51st state. Some of it may be joking or negotiation, but the pattern is clear: Trump often speaks in maximalist outcomes long before the reality exists.

For most countries, that kind of speech can be dismissed as antics. For Israel, it is different. When an American president threatens Iran, Israel listens. When he says Hamas will pay, Israeli families of hostages listen. When he says nuclear sites were obliterated, Israeli officials, soldiers and citizens weigh that statement against the risk of the next war.

That does not mean Trump is anti-Israel or that every threat was meaningless. His willingness to use force, impose pressure and break diplomatic taboos has often helped Israel. But the Iran deal is exposing a harder truth: Trump’s strongest words are not always a policy commitment. Sometimes they are a negotiating position or a headline. Sometimes they are a way to project strength while preparing to compromise.

That is the danger now. Israel may discover that the same words that once reassured it can later be used to restrain it. Trump can praise Israel one day and pressure Netanyahu the next. Maybe this is a genius plan. Maybe he is setting a trap. But a country facing Hamas in Gaza, Hezbollah in Lebanon and Iran across the region cannot afford to confuse dramatic language with strategic certainty.

Trump’s big threats are catching up with Israel because they created expectations that reality is not meeting. The lesson is not that Israel should ignore him. It is that Israel must read him carefully.