Late Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah. (Shutterstock)
U.S. anger boiled over after Israel rejected a ceasefire and went after Nasrallah, say Israeli officials.
By World Israel News Staff
The Biden administration was enraged by a September 2024 Israeli operation to assassinate Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah, Israeli officials revealed in an interview with Hebrew-language media on Sunday.
Former Israeli Ambassador to the U.S. Mike Herzog said in an interview with Channel 13 that Israel was unable to provide advance warning of the strike to Washington because Biden administration officials ignored calls from their Israeli counterparts.
According to Herzog, the Biden administration was furious that Israel had not quickly agreed to a ceasefire brokered by the U.S. and instead chose to pursue a war against Hezbollah that included assassinating the terror group’s head commander.
“It was agreed that we would update the Americans [before the strike on Nasrallah’s compound] at the level of [then-National Security Advisor] Jake Sullivan,” Herzog recounted to Channel 13.
“We tried setting up a phone call with Jake Sullivan and he didn’t get back to us. He was angry because he thought we had deceived them, and we let them make public the initiative for a ceasefire and make them look foolish, while we are planning to eliminate Nasrallah.”
Former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said that he had a conversation with U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin minutes before the strike and that Austin had not offered support for the operation.
“I updated Austin 15 minutes before the operation. I told him, ‘We’re about to eliminate Nasrallah.’ He asked me, ‘When?’ I told him, ‘15 minutes [from now].’ He really did not like this. He told me, ‘This could lead to a regional war’. I told him, ‘With all due respect, this man murdered thousands of Israelis and hundreds of Americans. I suggest you carefully consider your response,'” Gallant said.
“So [Austin] asks me, ‘Are you convinced he’s there?’ I told him, ‘There is a very high probability,’” Gallant added.
Israel agreed to a ceasefire with Lebanon in November 2024, some two months after the strike that killed Nasrallah.
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