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.



Netanyahu Prepares Grounds to Dismiss Chief of Staff

Netanyahu with dismissed Defense Minister Yoav Gallant and Chief of Staff Herzi Halevi in October 2023 (dpa)
Netanyahu with dismissed Defense Minister Yoav Gallant and Chief of Staff Herzi Halevi in October 2023 (dpa)
TT

Netanyahu Prepares Grounds to Dismiss Chief of Staff

Netanyahu with dismissed Defense Minister Yoav Gallant and Chief of Staff Herzi Halevi in October 2023 (dpa)
Netanyahu with dismissed Defense Minister Yoav Gallant and Chief of Staff Herzi Halevi in October 2023 (dpa)

After the successful ousting of his defense minister, Yoav Gallant, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is preparing the grounds to dismiss Army chief of staff, Herzi Halevi, reports in Tel Aviv revealed.
The PM’s intentions were visible through a series of preliminary measures. In a nine-minute video statement posted to social media on Saturday, Netanyahu claimed the ongoing investigation into the alleged theft and leak of classified documents, including by his aides, aimed at harming him and “an entire political camp.”
He then asserted that vital classified documents weren’t reaching him. “I am the prime minister. I need to receive important classified documents, and indeed sometimes important information doesn’t reach me.”
Netanyahu then defended his former spokesman Eli Feldstein, who is accused of leaking a classified document in a bid to sway public opinion against a truce-hostage deal in Gaza.
Last Thursday, Feldstein was charged with transferring classified information with the intent to harm the state.
The PM considered accusations against his spokesman as a “witch hunt” against his aides and Israelis who support him.
For the past 14 years, the Israeli right had run a large-scale incitement campaign against the security services. But in the last year, this camp increased its attack, particularly against the Chief of Staff, Halevi, who believes it is necessary to stop the war and ink a deal with Hamas.
The right-wing “Mida” website published a report entitled “Herzi Halevi’s Political Sabotage,” describing the man’s “rising against the Israeli political leadership.”
The report said Halevi's inappropriate behavior started during the first weeks of the war when the Army announced it was “ready for a ground attack,” accusing Netanyahu of delaying such an operation.
Mida then listed several other instances in which it described Netanyahu as a great leader who ordered strong attacks and deep military operations. It then accused the army of refraining from following his orders.
The report concludes that the “freeing of hostages file was the straw that broke the camel's back.”
In an April 2024 speech marking the six-month anniversary of the war, Halevi has said that it is time to end the war in Gaza and reach a prisoner swap deal with Hamas, while Netanyahu took a hardline stance, refusing to compromise on what he called “red lines.”
The Madi website also criticized Halevi for saying that the government was responsible for ordering the army of again operating in Jabalia, a decision that resulted in significant Israeli casualties.
“Halevi should have been dismissed as soon as the government was formed, and this was Netanyahu's mistake. But it is not too late to fix it. You can't win wars with rebel chiefs of staff,” the website wrote.