The administration of US President Donald Trump has decided to remove Israel from negotiations with Iran, citing overly optimistic assessments by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that have not come true.
Points of attention
- The Trump administration has sidelined Israel from talks with Iran, citing Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's overly optimistic assessments.
- Israel's exclusion from the negotiations could have serious consequences for the country and its leadership, especially Netanyahu.
US does not consider Israel in negotiations with Iran
On the eve of the attack on Iran on February 28, Netanyahu was not only present in the situation center with Trump, but also led discussions in which he predicted that a joint strike by the US and Israel could well lead to the fall of the Islamic Republic.
However, a few weeks later, after the optimistic assurances were proven false, the picture had hardly changed.
According to two Israeli Defense Ministry officials, the Trump administration has so sidelined the Israeli side of the issue that the country's leaders have been virtually excluded from the truce talks between the United States and Iran.
Now the Israelis, feeling a lack of information from their closest ally, are forced to gather information about what is happening between the US and Iran through their connections with leaders and diplomats in the region, as well as through their own surveillance inside the Iranian regime.
The transition, in effect, "from the cockpit to economy class" could have serious consequences for Israel, and especially for Netanyahu, who faces a difficult re-election battle this year.
According to the NYT, Netanyahu has long positioned himself to voters as a "Trump mentor" who has the ability to win and retain the president's support.
In a televised address at the start of the war, he presented himself as an equal to the US president, assuring Israelis that he spoke with Trump "almost every day", exchanging ideas and advice, "and making decisions together".
So in February, he dragged Israel into war, nurturing grandiose plans to achieve the goal he had been striving for for decades — to stop Iran's pursuit of nuclear weapons once and for all.
When the war began with the defeat of Iran’s top brass, it seemed that another goal—toppling the regime—might be achievable. But many in Trump’s inner circle have always considered this idea absurd.
Soon, the priorities of the US and Israel began to diverge more and more, especially after Iran closed the Strait of Hormuz, which led to a sharp increase in oil prices and forced Trump to agree to a ceasefire.
Israel, on the other hand, has faced the unattainability of its goals in this war. In particular, at the beginning of the war, Netanyahu wanted: to overthrow the regime, destroy the Iranian nuclear program, and eliminate Iran's missile program. None of these goals were ever achieved.
With Israel excluded from the talks, the issue of ballistic missile arsenals may have been left off the agenda. Thus, any agreement would not improve on the 2015 agreement, which Netanyahu criticized because it did not address Iranian missiles.
In addition, the country now has other concerns about the possible contours of a deal between the US and Iran, including the lifting of sanctions against Tehran.
