Israeli officials say that their country’s deadly military strike on Iran was rubber stamped by Donald Trump, despite his claims to have had nothing to do with it.
Just hours before Israel’s massive operation Thursday targeting Iran’s ballistic missile and nuclear facilities, military officials, and nuclear scientists, Trump claimed he was against an attack because it would “blow” ongoing diplomatic talks, which were set to continue this weekend.
Two Israeli officials told Axios, however, that Trump was lying, and the president had only pretended to publicly oppose Israel’s military operation to “eliminate” ballistic missile and nuclear facilities, which was reportedly eight-months in the making.
“We had a clear U.S. green light,” one Israeli official told Axios.
In a phone call with Netanyahu Monday, Trump reportedly urged the Israeli prime minister to stop chatter about a potential strike on Iran. But Israeli officials told Axios that the call had really been about coordination ahead of the attack, and Netanyahu’s aides had lied to reporters.
The New York Times reported in April that Israel, which is not a participant in the ongoing nuclear talks, had made plans to attack Iranian nuclear sites that were waved off by Trump, who wanted to continue negotiating with Tehran. The White House made it clear, at least publicly, that if Israel wanted to strike they would do so alone.
On Wednesday, some U.S. personnel were evacuated from the region, including from Baghdad and Bahrain, citing security concerns. When asked what Israeli officials had told him that prompted the evacuations, Trump said, “They didn’t tell me anything, but I said look, there’s a chance of massive conflict.”
For a guy who says he had nothing to do with the attack, Trump has been quick to use the strike as leverage.
“Iran should have listened to me when I said—you know I gave them, I don’t know if you know but I gave them a 60-day warning and today is day 61. They should now come to the table to make a deal before it’s too late. It will be too late for them,” the president told CNN.
He also said that the strike had killed some of the people who’d been part of nuclear talks. “You know the people I was dealing with are dead, the hardliners,” Trump added. Iran’s top negotiator in the nuclear talks, Ali Shamkhani, has been confirmed dead.
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