Netanyahu insists Trump calling shots in Iran war, calls Israel ‘junior partner’
Washington Examiner · RC · trust 56/100
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reiterated Wednesday that he is playing a “junior” role to the United States in the Iran war after both countries started the conflict with joint strikes in February.
The U.S.-Israeli attacks on Feb. 28 launched the war after Washington and Jerusalem said action was needed to prevent Iran from building nuclear weapons. While it has largely taken a back seat to the U.S. in carrying out direct military action against Iran in the months since, Israel has at times diverged from Washington in strategy, taking a dimmer view of the effectiveness of diplomacy over strikes than the White House, arousing President Donald Trump’s anger when it bombed Iran’s largest gas compound in March, and stoking fears it is throwing peace negotiations into question due to its war against Iran-backed Hezbollah in Lebanon.
After holding his first in-person meeting with Trump since attacking Iran, Netanyahu said this week that he continues to see the U.S. as playing the leading role in the war. He said he still has doubts about whether peace talks will be effective, but said he is fine with Washington “giving it a try.”
“The truth is, we’re partners. We’re allies. He’s the senior partner. It’s the United States of America, let’s not forget. And I’m a junior partner,” Netanyahu said during an ABC News interview. “I’m skeptical about Iran’s modus operandi, I mean, the method of operating. They always lie, they always cheat, and they always play for time. Could that, within sufficient pressure — diplomatic, economic pressure — could that change? Give it a try.”
“I’m the prime minister of Israel, and when I have to stand up for the interest of my country and the security of my country, I do so,” he continued. “But I always do so with a deep appreciation of the role that the United States under President Trump has played in joining forces with us against our common enemy that wants to destroy us both.”
Throughout the conflict, Israel and Trump have repeatedly affirmed that Jerusalem is following the U.S.’s direction in the war. In March, Netanyahu slammed speculation that Israel pushed the U.S. into the war, asking, “Do you really think someone can tell President Trump what to do?” Roughly a month later, Trump in April denied that Netanyahu swayed his decision to attack Iran, saying that Iranian-backed Hamas’s Oct. 7, 2023, terrorist attack on Israel “added to my lifelong opinion that IRAN CAN NEVER HAVE A NUCLEAR WEAPON.”
Still, there has been tension between Washington and Jerusalem on tactics used during the war, from Israel’s attacks on Iran’s South Pars gas field in March, to Netanyahu’s move to authorize strikes on Iran on June 7 . Israel conducted the June strikes in retaliation for Iranian strikes against Israel, as well as strikes against Israel from Yemen’s Iran-aligned Houthi rebels. The Iranian and Houthi attacks were in retaliation for Israel’s strikes on Iran-backed Hezbollah in Lebanon.
Israel’s retaliatory strikes on Iran triggered fears in the U.S. that they could lead to a full-scale war once again and disrupt the peace deal Washington and Iran were negotiating to end the conflict. And they came shortly after Trump told the Financial Times he dictated terms to Netanyahu on how the war should be prosecuted, saying that he called “all the shots,” not Netanyahu.
Netanyahu called off further strikes in June after holding a phone call with Trump, and after the president issued a message calling on Israel and Iran to “immediately stop ‘shooting.'”
On Tuesday, the relationship between the two men appeared to be strong after they held a meeting at the White House. Netanyahu afterward touted an “excellent” conversation “with full cooperation, with mutual support, with the understanding of the joint goal to ensure that Iran will not have a nuclear weapon.”
“This was one of the greatest conversations I have ever had with our friend, President Donald Trump,” Netanyahu said after asserting during a Fox News interview Sunday that in “many ways, it’s [Trump’s] decision” on how to move forward.
“If he can do so without returning to intense military fighting, that’s fine. Why not?” the Israeli leader said. “But one way or the other, they [Iran] have to end their nuclear program.”
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