In launching renewed strikes on Iran yesterday in apparent open defiance of Donald Trump, Israel has tried to make its case to have a say at the peace negotiating table, where it has so far been kept at arm’s length by the US president.
Despite Trump publicly calling for Israel to hold fire, it struck targets in Iran for the first time since a ceasefire in April, after Iran fired missiles at Israel in what Tehran said was retaliation for Israeli strikes on Lebanon’s capital.
Israel and Iran both called a halt to the exchange on Monday shortly after Trump told them to stop shooting, although they each left the door open to a possible resumption.
But in launching the strikes, Israel had sent a message to Washington that no final agreement with Iran can be reached if Israel’s interests are ignored, said Danny Orbach, a military historian at Israel’s Hebrew University.
“Because if it tramples too heavily on Israeli interests, Israel can overturn the table.”
Trump, who launched the war alongside Israel in February, has been trying to reach a negotiated settlement with Iran, while excluding Israel from those talks.
He has publicly prodded Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to refrain from actions that could scupper the talks, including by holding fire in Lebanon, which Israel invaded in March in pursuit of the Iran-aligned Hizbollah movement.
Iran says it will not agree to any peace deal with Washington unless a ceasefire also holds in Lebanon. Last week Netanyahu called off air strikes on Beirut after a phone call with Trump. Trump later confirmed he had called the Israeli leader “crazy” in the heated exchange, although he also said they still get along well.
Netanyahu’s domestic critics accused him of effectively surrendering sovereignty by restricting Israeli military actions to sustain US negotiations, without a seat at the table.
After Israel’s strike on Lebanon on Sunday, and Iran’s decision to fire at Israel in response, Trump made clear he believed that should be the end of the matter.
“Each of them had their fun,” he told the Axios website. “Israel had its strike and Iran had its strike. We don’t need another one,” Trump said.
But Israel concluded that only by striking Iran itself in response could it establish that Iran should not be granted future say over Israeli actions in Lebanon.
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