WASHINGTON – President Donald Trump opposed Israeli military action against Iran, in favor of negotiations on bombing. But in the days before the start of the strikes, he became convinced that Israel’s increasing concern about the capabilities of Iranian nuclear enrichment was justified.
After a pivotal surrounding from the Chairman of the Board of Directors, the aerial general Dan Kane, on the plans of Israel and the US options to support its work, he gave implicit approval to Israel to obtain it and decided to provide the support of the United States limited.
When Kane briefed him on June 8, Trump felt increasingly frustrated by Iran for not responding to the latest proposal to a nuclear deal. He was still hoping that he would receive his negotiation in the Middle East of Peace, Steve Witkeov, who was scheduled to hold another round of peace talks in the region on Sunday, an agreement on the line.
Trump has also faced special pressure from allies who have long been defending more isolated policies who wanted him to prevent Israel from taking military measures and at the minimum support of the United States for any such operation.
This account is based on Trump’s thinking leading to the Israeli operation on interviews with five current US officials and two Middle East officials, as well as two people on deliberations, two former American officials familiar with deliberations and Trump’s ally. The White House did not comment immediately, and the Ministry of Defense did not respond to a request for comment.
In recent weeks, Israel has become more convinced that Tehran’s threat has become increasingly dangerous and urgent. While he had already decided not to stand on the road of Israel, on Thursday, just hours before the strikes began, Trump remained at least hoped that he would win diplomacy a day.
“I don’t want them to enter, because I think this will explode – it may actually help him, but he may explode as well, but we had good discussions with Iran,” Trump told reporters at an invoice signature. “I prefer the most friendly path.”
Behind the scenes, the Israelis had already set a lot of basis to change Trump’s size. Trump was hoping that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu would not launch an attack. But last week, before Israel was determined to neutralize Iranian nuclear capabilities and that the United States would have to provide some military support for defensive purposes, as well as some intelligence support.
After the strikes began on Thursday evening, the administration took pain to say that it had not provided any military assistance to Israel, and the Foreign Minister Marco Rubio, a national security adviser, was also deleted, that is, a mention of the United States’ support for Israel’s operations in a statement. But the general data of the administration the next day left the door open to the United States after it provided some of the intelligence that Israel needed to install the attack.
Israel was often able to make its initial strikes with its intelligence and capabilities-killing three military leaders and nine senior scientists working on nuclear enrichment and destroying many nuclear enrichment sites, as Israeli officials said, but they were also largely inclined to American intelligence, and it was provided every day.
But Trump still will not sign everything that Israel wants. After the beginning of their military campaign, the Israelis gathered an intelligence that would have allowed them to target and kill Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khounai. Netanyahu presented the operation to Trump, who completely opposed the plan and will not allow the United States to participate, according to US officials. The officials said that no Americans were killed in the conflict, so Trump did not believe that it would be appropriate to remove my cruise, the political leader, and recommended against the Israelis who were performing the operation.
On Sunday, he seemed again defending talks on strikes, Saying on the social media platform, social truth: “Iran and Israel must conclude a deal, and will make a deal, just as I got India and Pakistan. … Many calls and meetings are taking place now. I do a lot, and I will not get the credit for anything, but this is good, people understand. Make the Middle East great again!”
Trump’s approach to Israel’s military campaign began to take a form on Sunday at Camp David, the presidential decline in Maryland countryside. By that time, Israeli officials have already begun to share comprehensive information with US officials about their potential work. Kane, Chairman of the Joint Board of Directors, has briefed Trump and the National Security Team on Israeli plans to strike Iran and the United States, according to US officials and one of the persons familiar with deliberations.
The three sources said that these options included logistical support, such as the Israeli fuel, and the participation of intelligence and the use of the American army’s electronic warfare capabilities to help the enemy weapons and communications to Israel. Another option was to provide direct military support to Israel, and even made us aircraft to drop the ammunition in active fighting along with Israeli fighters, for example.
Another option, Ken Trump, is not doing anything at all.
Trump has constantly said he wanted to extract the United States from foreign conflicts and sought to use diplomacy to end Russia’s war on Ukraine and fight in Gaza, albeit without success.
But Israel was concerned, and it was not convinced that Trump’s peace plan in the region would work. Netanyahu and the war treasury had no belief in US negotiations with Iran in Amman, despite Washington’s statements that the deal was close.
For several months, the Trump administration pressed the Israelis for not carrying out strikes on Iran and warned that the United States would not support them if they did so.
By the end of last week, the White House’s general tone began to include more support for Israel, and in particular, it turned from a strong opposition against a large -scale military operation to acceptance that is likely to occur and less resistance to it.
Among the reasons for Trump’s change in the heart, the announcement on Thursday by the United Nations Nuclear Control Authority was the International Atomic Energy Agency, which Iran was in violation of its requirements other than spreading. Trump was also concerned about the feeling coming from Israel, the United States, and the International Agency for which Iran made leaps in its nuclear program, and he did not want to be the president who was able to see it to obtain a nuclear weapon.
The United States was already quietly moving some pieces in place to prepare for the Israeli attack. In recent days, the European-American leadership has been informed of some P-8 PASEIDON Maritime Patrol and Reconnaisance Planes to the Middle East for control.
After that, in the notes that caught her attention last week, Ukrainian President Folodimir Zelinski announced that more than 20,000 American anti -Barron missiles had been transferred to the Middle East.
Trump and Netanyahu spoke several times in the previous week, but by Monday, Trump was convinced that Israel would strike and began to put more pieces to help support the strike.
Shortly after that conversation last Monday, the Pentagon directed the European leadership to send a marine destroyer to sit outside Israel to help defend it in the possible event of an anti -Tehran attack, as it joined two others and the group of the transmitted strike there already there.
He was expected to travel and destroy peace talks in late Friday. With the struggle that is still active, the American side acknowledged that these talks had stopped. But it does not close the door for future discussions.
“Although there will be no meeting on Sunday, we are still committed to talks and we hope that the Iranians will come to the table soon,” said an administrative official of the news institutions.
