I think that right now and always, Israel’s biggest priority is to defend itself from attacks. Any country that stands in the way of Israeli defense against Arab terror is a hindrance. While the U.S. is certainly better than some other countries in that arena, our government hasn’t exactly been looking out for the best interests of Israel, especially under the Obama administration.
And by the way, the U.S. has a TON at stake with Israel’s existence. They are the only democracy in the Middle East, and the only reason that there isn’t complete anarchy and chaos there.
So while Israel definitely owes America a measure of hakaras hatov, they do not owe more than they give. Netanyahu needs to put the immediate security interests of his country over his (somewhat debatable, degree-wise?) obligation towards the U.S.