US In Israel’s Way Now?

In two separate reports we discover that the Trump administration may be keeping Israel from ending Iran’s nuclear program. The first report addresses the ongoing talks with the US and Iran and is from The Jerusalem Post:

Mossad Director David Barnea and Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer were seemingly unable to talk down US Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff from the direction he is taking in the Iran nuclear negotiations during a secret meeting on Friday in Paris, The Jerusalem Post has learned.

As they did with the previous US administration, Israel hoped to persuade Witkoff to more of their thinking about Iran’s nuclear program:

Israel had been considering trying to “intercept” Witkoff on his way to the second round of Iran nuclear talks in Rome, which took place on Saturday. Dermer is Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s closest adviser, and Barnea has been seen as a secret weapon due to the deep respect the previous and current US administrations have for the Mossad chief.

The Post understands that Barnea recently had very successful meetings with CIA Director John Ratcliffe in Israel, but Jerusalem recognized that Witkoff is the man of the hour, who the Jewish state would need to sway to impact negotiations.

The Israeli leadership are concerned about both Witkoff and Trump getting weak with Iran:

In Israel, there has been deep concern that neither Witkoff nor US President Donald Trump completely understands the importance of the details regarding setting back Iran’s nuclear program in the area of uranium enrichment, including advanced centrifuges, as well as regarding ballistic missile systems, which could be used to deliver nuclear warheads.

After the second talks between Iran and the US troubling signs are developing:

Tehran’s optimistic reaction to the second round of talks, the US withholding certain details, the scheduling of a third round of talks for next week, and other details suggest Barnea and Dermer did not succeed, though Israel will hold out hope until a new mediocre deal is actually signed.

Israel Had Clout Before

In recent times Israel was able to exert influence in such dealings:

In the past, Barnea and his predecessors – Yossi Cohen, Tamir Pardo, Meir Dagan, and others – were sometimes used to sway top US officials by presenting exceptional new intelligence about the dangers presented by Iran’s nuclear program at key moments.

Barnea has a very strong relationship with Ratcliffe’s predecessor, Bill Burns, and was credited with convincing the then-CIA chief to take some tougher stands on key details in nuclear negotiations with Iran, which, in multiple situations, led to a breakdown in negotiations with the Islamic Republic.

In April 2021, former president Joe Biden’s administration was expected to potentially cut a quick, new nuclear deal with Iran and mainly ignored a wider Israeli delegation on the issue, but after Cohen personally met Biden in an unscheduled meeting (at a time when Biden was not meeting with Netanyahu), Washington surprised Tehran in negotiations, taking a hardline on Iran’s advanced centrifuges and other holes in the 2015 nuclear deal.

Because of getting the previous administration to deal strongly with Iran talks fell apart:

Negotiations fell through, ending the chance for a deal while relative moderate Hassan Rouhani was still Iran’s president, and with the election of his successor, hardliner Ebrahim Raisi, real negotiations were delayed into 2022.

Trump and company seem to want a nuclear deal of their own for some reason:

Despite these past successes, Witkoff and Trump seem intent on cutting a new nuclear deal with Tehran, provided they can present it as better in some way than Obama’s 2015 deal, even if it falls far short of what Israel believes is necessary.

Israel sees a window of opportunity to strike Iran and make diplomacy a moot approach:

In lieu of a deal that essentially shuts down Tehran’s nuclear program, most Israeli officials prefer to exploit the current unique window of vulnerability to attack its nuclear facilities opened up by the Israel Air Force disabling Iran’s best anti-aircraft systems in October 2024 and the crushing of much of Hezbollah and Hamas’s power to retaliate against Israel for a strike on the Islamic Republic.

I‘m having a sense that Israel will have to hit Iran on their own and actually drag the US into helping or going it alone. Trump would be wise to listen to Israel’s leaders on this one and quit thinking that talks will actually help.

Trump Stops Iran Attack

In an article from WND.com we hear that Trump stopped a possible Israeli strike on Iran in favor of a more diplomatic approach:

President Donald Trump stopped Israel from launching military strikes against multiple nuclear targets in Iran, according to a New York Times report, which cited administration officials.

Israel was planning to strike Iran as soon as May, the Times reported, but Trump intervened to take a more diplomatic approach.

Avoiding World War III may be one if not the main reason for stopping those plans:

After months of internal debate among the administration, Trump reportedly decided to negotiate with Iran. The debate was between those who favor a stronger military stance and those wary of launching a wider war in the Middle East, the Times reported.

Trump told Netanyahu he wouldn’t back Israel if they attacked Iran and preferred negotiations:

At the beginning of April, Trump told Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that Washington wouldn't support military strikes against Iran.

Trump revealed that America is pursuing nuclear discussions with Iran during an Oval Office meeting with Netanyahu last week.

If the attacks happened, they wouldn’t last long and would have needed US help when Iran hit back:

The planned military campaign against Iran was expected to begin in early May and last more than a week. The strike would have started with eliminating what remained of Iran's air defense systems, the Times reported.

This would have enabled Israeli fighters to directly strike nuclear sites. The attack likely would have prompted Iran to launch a retaliatory missile barrage at Israel, which the U.S. would have had to intervene against.

The US publicly stated that talks were what Trump wants while also keeping a military option on the table:

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt affirmed the administration's intention to take a more diplomatic approach.

"The maximum pressure campaign on Iran continues, but as you know the president has made it clear he wants to see dialogue and discussion with Iran," she told reporters at Tuesday's press briefing, "while making his directive about Iran never being able to obtain nuclear weapons quite clear."

With Iran still openly saying they want to wipe Israel off the map as recently as 5 days ago in an article from World Israel News, Netanyahu is justifiably concerned about the Iranian discussions allowing them to continue to work on their nuclear program:

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu responded to Ayatollah Ali Khamenei’s vow to eliminate Israel, noting the irony of the timing of the threats while Iran is negotiating a nuclear treaty with the United States.

“Today, the dictator of Iran, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, posted this,” the premier said, holding up a newspaper. “The title is, ‘Why the Zionist regime (that’s Israel) must be eliminated from the region.'”

“So here you have the ruler of Iran openly declaring – again – that his goal is to destroy the State of Israel. And the most brazen thing about this is that he issues this while he’s negotiating – supposedly negotiating – peace with the United States.”

The PM was extremely clear that Iran is only stalling and that rather than being held back from striking Iran’s nuclear program they should be encouraged and supported:

“Well, Israel will NOT be eliminated. What must be eliminated is Iran’s axis of terror and its nuclear weapons program. Not only for the sake of Israel, but for the sake of our entire region and for the sake of peace in our world,” he concluded.

All I can say is amen to that.