Trump Promised Netanyahu to Help Israel Build What Iran Missiles Destroy

Former US President Donald Trump pledged to Netanyahu to rebuild what Iran missiles destroy in Israel's infrastructure in the event of a war (AFP)
Former US President Donald Trump pledged to Netanyahu to rebuild what Iran missiles destroy in Israel's infrastructure in the event of a war (AFP)
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Trump Promised Netanyahu to Help Israel Build What Iran Missiles Destroy

Former US President Donald Trump pledged to Netanyahu to rebuild what Iran missiles destroy in Israel's infrastructure in the event of a war (AFP)
Former US President Donald Trump pledged to Netanyahu to rebuild what Iran missiles destroy in Israel's infrastructure in the event of a war (AFP)

Journalist Barak Ravid revealed some secrets of the Israeli-US relations during the term of former US President Donald Trump and his feelings of resentment towards former Israeli prime minister and current opposition leader Benjamin Netanyahu.

Ravid said that although the US administration pledged to help Israel rebuild everything that gets destroyed by Iran's missiles in the event of a war, the Trump administration felt it was "backstabbed" by Tel Aviv.

Ravid said that during his interview with the former president for his new book "Trump's Peace: The Abraham Accords and the Reshaping of the Middle East," Trump said he felt used on the Soleimani strike and "Israel did not do the right thing."

The assassination of Iranian commander Qasem Soleimani in January 2020 seemed like the height of US-Israel cooperation. However, it became a significant point of tension between the two allies.

"I can't talk about this story. But I was very disappointed in Israel having to do with that event. ... People will be hearing about that at the right time," Trump said.

Trump expected Israel to play a more active role in the attack, and he believed Netanyahu was "willing to fight Iran to the last American soldier," according to a former senior Trump administration official.

The former senior US official said Trump's anger wasn't warranted, but that he put the episode into the same box he had put his feelings for NATO - of allies wanting the US to do their fighting for them.

Netanyahu tried to pull Trump aside to make amends when he visited the White House in September 2020 to sign the Abraham Accords. However, Trump wasn't convinced and continued to believe Netanyahu had used him, a former White House official told Ravid.

A senior Israeli defense official told Ravid that Israel proposed a more active role for Israeli forces. However, the US insisted on being the ones to execute the strike.

Israel provided the US with crucial intelligence support for the attack. The former VP Mike Pence called the Israeli National Security Adviser, Meir Ben Shabat, to thank him.

Meanwhile, journalist Alex Fishman affirmed that the reconstruction was part of a confidential plan that only a few Israeli political and security officials knew about.

In an article in Ynet, Fishman said that Israel and the US do not have a military alliance yet. However, they establish deep cooperative relations, especially between the security commands.

The US realized that it could use Israeli intelligence and military capabilities to fight ISIS. Thus intelligence and military cooperation were established on Syrian territory, Fishman added.

In recent years, a special operations room for the Air Force was set up at the headquarters of the Israeli army in Tel Aviv to cooperate with the US in Syria.

A senior Israeli official described it as an unprecedented close and daily cooperation level.

Fishman noted that the claim that Israel does not need to inform the US about its intentions against Iran is "obsolete."

He indicated that Netanyahu and his defense minister at the time, Ehud Barak, claimed they authorized an independent military attack against Iran in 2011, however, it was a mere threat.

According to Fishman's report, experts from outside the Israeli security service estimate that Tel Aviv is three to five years far from a situation in which it will attack Iran independently and achieve an effective result.



UN Chief and Pope Call for Nations to End the Use of Antipersonnel Land Mines

United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres speaks during a press conference at the United Nations Climate Change Conference COP29 in Baku, Azerbaijan, 21 November 2024. (EPA)
United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres speaks during a press conference at the United Nations Climate Change Conference COP29 in Baku, Azerbaijan, 21 November 2024. (EPA)
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UN Chief and Pope Call for Nations to End the Use of Antipersonnel Land Mines

United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres speaks during a press conference at the United Nations Climate Change Conference COP29 in Baku, Azerbaijan, 21 November 2024. (EPA)
United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres speaks during a press conference at the United Nations Climate Change Conference COP29 in Baku, Azerbaijan, 21 November 2024. (EPA)

The UN head, Pope Francis and others called Monday for nations to end the production and use of land mines, even as their deployment globally grows.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said in a message to delegates at the fifth review of the International Mine Ban Treaty, also known as the Ottawa Convention, that 25 years after it went into force some parties had renewed the use of antipersonnel mines and some are falling behind in their commitments to destroy the weapons.

“I call on states parties to meet their obligations and ensure compliance to the convention, while addressing humanitarian and developmental impacts through financial and technical support,” Guterres said at the opening of the conference in Cambodia.

“I also encourage all states that have not yet acceded to the convention to join the 164 that have done so. A world without anti-personnel mines is not just possible. It is within reach.”

In a statement read on behalf of Pope Francis, his deputy Cardinal Pietro Parolin said that antipersonnel land mines and victim-activated explosive devices continue to be used. Even after many years of hostilities, “these treacherous devices continue to cause terrible suffering to civilians, especially children.”

“Pope Francis urges all states that have not yet done so to accede to the convention, and in the meantime to cease immediately the production and use of land mines,” he said.

The treaty was signed in 1997 and went into force in 1999, but nearly three dozen countries have not acceded to it, including some key current and past producers and users of land mines such as the United States, China, India, Pakistan, South Korea and Russia.

In a report released last week by Landmine Monitor, the international watchdog said land mines were still actively being used in 2023 and 2024 by Russia, Myanmar, Iran and North Korea. It added that non-state armed groups in at least five places — Colombia, India, Myanmar, Pakistan and the Gaza Strip — had used mines as well, and there were claims of their use in more than a half dozen countries in or bordering the Sahel region of Africa.

At least 5,757 people were killed and wounded by land mines and unexploded ordnance last year, primarily civilians of whom a third were children, Landmine Monitor reported.

Landmine Monitor said Russia had been using antipersonnel mines “extensively” in Ukraine, and just a week ago, the US, which has been providing Ukraine with anti-tank mines throughout the war, announced it would start providing Kyiv with antipersonnel mines as well to try and stall Russian progress on the battlefield.

“Antipersonnel mines represent a clear and present danger for civilians,” Guterres said in his statement. “Even after fighting stops, these horrifying and indiscriminate weapons can remain, trapping generations of people in fear.”

He praised Cambodia for its massive demining efforts and for sharing its experience with others and contributing to UN peacekeeping missions.

Cambodia was one of the world's most mine-affected countries after three decades of war and disorder that ended in 1998, with some 4 million to 6 million mines or unexploded munitions littering the country.

Its efforts to rid the country of mines has been enormous, and Landmine Monitor said Cambodia and Croatia accounted for 75% of all land cleared of mines in 2023, with more than 200 square kilometers (80 square miles).

Prime Minister Hun Manet joined the calls for more nations to join the Mine Ban Treaty, and thanked the international community for supporting Cambodia's mine clearance efforts. He said they have reduced land mine casualties from more than 4,300 in 1996 to fewer than 100 annually over the last decade.

“Cambodia has turned its tragic history into a powerful lesson for the world, advocating against the use of anti-personnel mines and highlighting their long-term consequences,” he said.