US losing trust in Israeli govt. as Israeli official says not seeking war with Iran
The Biden administration has in recent weeks grown “increasingly distrustful” of what the Israeli government says about its military and diplomatic plans in the multi-front war it is fighting, four U.S. officials told U.S. news portal Axios.
The worsening trust crisis is magnified by Israel's planned retaliation against Iran for its massive missile attack, which requires coordination with the U.S. in case Iran responds.
The Biden administration isn't opposed to Israel responding to the Iranian attack last week but wants it to be measured, U.S. officials said.
"Our trust of the Israelis is very low right now and for a good reason," one U.S. official told Axios.
Two U.S. officials told the news portal that during a call on Friday, White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan told Israel's minister for strategic affairs Ron Dermer that the U.S. expects "clarity and transparency" from Israel about its plans to retaliate against Iran because it will have implications for U.S. forces and interests in the region.
Sullivan was signaling that if the U.S. doesn't know what the Israelis are planning to do, it wouldn't automatically be on board to help defeat another Iranian missile attack against Israel, one official said.
The U.S. officials admit that the U.S. would very likely help Israel defend itself regardless.
The officials said Dermer stressed that Israel wants to coordinate with the U.S., but they added that the Biden administration questions how much it can trust that to be the case.
Another U.S. official said the discussions with the Israeli government regarding Iran have been “constructive.”
U.S. officials say the Biden administration has been surprised several times recently by Israeli military or intelligence operations.
In some cases, the U.S. wasn't consulted or notified in advance. Or, it was given a heads up as Israeli jets were already on their way to conduct an airstrike somewhere in the Middle East.
The Israelis didn't tell the Biden administration in advance about the dramatic move to assassinate Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran, Axios said.
Moreover, it took place several days after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told U.S. President Joe Biden in the Oval Office that he was going to take steps to make progress toward a deal with Hamas to release the hostages they are holding and establish a ceasefire in Gaza.
“The U.S. was also in the dark about Israel's plans to remotely detonate pagers and walkie-talkies used by Hezbollah members in Lebanon and the assassination of the militia's leader Hassan Nasrallah in Beirut,” Axios added.
U.S. officials said U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin was fuming when his Israeli counterpart Yoav Gallant told him about the Nasrallah assassination minutes before the Israeli jets dropped their bombs over Beirut’s southern suburbs.
Austin saw it as a breach of trust by Gallant because the late notification didn't allow the Pentagon to take measures to protect U.S. forces in the region, U.S. officials said.
Israeli officials said Gallant told Austin he was ordered by Netanyahu not to notify the U.S. in advance.
Another case that fueled distrust and suspicion in the White House was Netanyahu's flip-flop about the U.S.-led ceasefire initiative in Lebanon.
Biden announced the initiative after his advisers understood from Netanyahu and Dermer that Israel was on board, only to have the Israelis backtrack.
A senior Israeli official told Axios Netanyahu didn't backtrack on what he told the U.S. and claimed the reason for what happened was a misunderstanding between the parties.
"We understood Biden's call for ceasefire was a beginning of a process and not something immediate. There was a mix up but we set the record straight," the Israeli official said.
Gallant told Austin in a phone call on Sunday that Israel hasn't made a final decision about the timing and the scope of its retaliation against Iran, a U.S. official said.
The Israeli defense minister will arrive in Washington on Wednesday for a 24-hour visit and is expected to meet Austin and Sullivan to coordinate and discuss the plans for a potential Israeli strike on Iran.
"The Biden administration understands we are a sovereign country, but they want to give their input. We are going to respond to the Iranian attack. There is no question about it. But we will not do it in a way that will start an all-out war with Iran," a senior Israeli official said.
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