It was a tense night regarding relations between Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and US President Donald Trump. Just before the first phone call between the two leaders, Trump briefed the American media, saying, “I’ll tell Bibi: ‘Don’t attack.’”
During the call, which took place around 11 p.m. on Sunday, the US president made it clear to Netanyahu that he did not support a strike.
“We’re close to an agreement,” the president said.
Netanyahu insisted that military action was necessary, to which Trump replied, “You’re a sovereign country, but every decision has consequences.”
In the end, Israel did carry out an attack. However, given the discussions with the Americans, the operation was far more limited than originally planned. During a second conversation between the prime minister and the president, after receiving an Iranian message indicating that the firing had stopped, Trump reportedly clarified: “It’s over. The story is finished.”
While Israeli officials argue that these events demonstrate that the Iranian nuclear negotiations and the Lebanese arena remain separate tracks, concerns were raised behind closed doors during Monday’s marathon discussions:
“Could the events of the past 24 hours actually lead Trump to ask Israel to lower the level of its military activity not only in Dahieh but throughout the rest of Lebanon as well?”
This concern has not emerged overnight. One of the objectives of the joint Israeli-Lebanese-American statement, which referred to a ceasefire agreement between the two countries, was to prevent Iran from demanding an Israeli withdrawal from parts of Lebanon as part of the conditions for a broader framework agreement with the United States.
“We are working hard to prevent the Iranian effort to link the different fronts,” Israeli officials said.
So far, Israel has succeeded in preventing any unusual moves by the president on this issue, and US Ambassador to Lebanon Michel Issa described last week’s joint statement as “an irreversible step.”
Still, some Israeli officials acknowledge that Trump, being Trump, could eventually change his mind.