There are reports that President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu yelled at each other during a phone conversation about Iran last weekend.
asserted
Trump → be → Iran
The story has been dismissed and downplayed in the last few days, but at the very least the two leaders’ talk was a troubled one at a time of recurring difficulties over the war.
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talk → dismiss → war
The short version is that Netanyahu is pushing the United States to restart major combat operations, while Trump is taking a more cautious approach, relying on the American blockade and other economic measures to further weaken Iran.
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Trump → push → Iran
It’s a disagreement that has been popping up frequently in the last several months of the war.
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that → ’ → war
But the underlying issue dates back farther, to the beginning of the conflict.
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issue → underlie → conflict
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The first thing to say is that the decision to take the U.S. to war was Trump’s, and Trump’s alone.
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decision → say → war
That said, there are undoubtedly some hard feelings in some parts of the administration over Netanyahu’s efforts to talk the U.S. into going to war.
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That → say → war
The following is taken from the book Regime Change by New York Times reporters Jonathan Swan and Maggie Haberman.
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following → follow → Swan
The book describes Netanyahu’s visit to the White House on Feb. 11 of this year.
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book → describe → year
In an extraordinary moment — a foreign leader being allowed into the White House Situation Room — Netanyahu made an extended pitch to the highest U.S. officials, including Trump himself, for the U.S. and Israel to attack Iran.
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U.S. → allow → Iran
A great success beckoned, he said.
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he → beckon → ?
“Over the course of an hour, Netanyahu made a hard sell about how ripe Iran was to be overwhelmed,” the authors wrote, “and how this could finally be the moment for regime change brought about by a joint U.S.-Israeli assault.”
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this → make → assault
The book described Netanyahu showing a video that “included a montage of new leaders who could take over [Iran] if it fell.”
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it → describe → Iran
“Netanyahu and his team outlined conditions they portrayed as pointing to near-certain victory,” Swan and Haberman wrote.
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Swan → outline → victory
“Iran’s ballistic missile program could be destroyed within a few weeks; Iran would be so weakened that it could not choke off the Strait of Hormuz; the likelihood that Iran would land blows against U.S. interests in neighboring countries was minimal.”
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Iran → destroy → countries
With Israeli spies “helping to foment riots and rebellion … an intense bombing campaign could create the conditions for the Iranian opposition to overthrow the regime.”
Trump
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opposition → help → regime
said the plan sounded good, according to the book, and several people in the room left with the impression that the president had made up his mind.
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president → say → mind
When Trump arrived, he was briefed by CIA Director John Ratcliffe, who gave the president the intelligence community’s assessment of Netanyahu’s case.
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who → arrive → case
“The CIA director used one word to describe the Israeli prime minister’s regime change scenario: ‘farcical,'” the authors wrote.
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authors → use → scenario
“At that point [Secretary of State Marco] Rubio cut in.
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Rubio → cut → State
‘In other words, it’s bulls***,’ he said.”
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he → ’ → words
After others, including Vice President JD Vance, “expressed strong skepticism” about Netanyahu’s presentation, the book said Trump then turned to Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Dan Caine.
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Trump → include → Caine
“Sir, this is, in my experience, standard operating procedure for the Israelis,” Caine said, according to the book.
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Caine → say → book
“They oversell and their plans are not always well-developed.
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plans → oversell → ?
They know they need us and that’s why they’re hard selling.
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they → know → us
Trump decided to go ahead anyway, and the war began 16 days later, on Feb. 28.
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war → decide → Feb.
It was the kind of judgment that is a president’s alone to make.
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that → make → judgment
It appears Trump made it in part because he was thinking of U.S. forces’ quick success in Venezuela and felt that the Iran operation would be a quick success, too.
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operation → appear → Venezuela
When facing a big problem, he often expresses faith that things will work out, because “they always do.”
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they → face → faith
But this time things didn’t work out, or at least they haven’t so far in nine months of conflict.
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they → work → conflict
Months have gone by with Trump predicting quick resolutions that did not come.
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that → go → resolutions
Starting in early September, he said the war could end soon after the midterm elections, but that hasn’t happened either.
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that → start → elections
The elections brought a resounding defeat to Republicans, which Vance attributed solely to the war and which Trump agreed was one of the main factors in the party’s losses.
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Trump → bring → losses
The GOP is facing at least two years of strong Democratic majorities in both the House and Senate.
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GOP → face → House
Many lawmakers want the war to end soon, if not immediately.
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war → want → ?
But Trump still has decisions to make on Iran.
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Trump → have → Iran
Right now there appears to be an intensifying debate between the finish-them-off faction, that is, aides and outsiders who advocate resuming major combat operations to bring an end to the Iranian regime, and the give-it-time faction, who argue that the U.S. blockade and other economic measures are steadily weakening the Iranians and will in the future force the Iranians to give in without any U.S. resumption of major combat operations.
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blockade → appear → operations
For the moment, Trump is siding with the give-it-time group.
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Trump → side → time
Netanyahu, of course, is part of the finish-them-off faction, still pushing for regime change.
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Netanyahu → finish → change
“Iran is working to renew the nuclear threat,” he told the Knesset this week.
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he → work → Knesset
…and 8 more, not listed.
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