Netanyahu says Trump is the ‘senior partner’ in Iran war, ‘nobody tells Trump what to do’

Prime Minister Netanyahu says President Trump has final say on Iran war as US launches new wave of strikes.

By David Rosenberg, World Israel News

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said President Donald Trump alone will determine the next stage of the war with Iran, rejecting claims that he pressured the US president to resume or expand military operations following their White House meeting.

Speaking to ABC News on Wednesday, Netanyahu described Israel and the US as close allies but acknowledged that Washington holds the dominant position in decisions concerning the conflict.

“The truth is, we’re partners. We’re allies. He’s the senior partner,” Netanyahu said, referring to Trump. He described himself as the junior partner while insisting that he would continue defending Israel’s national interests.

Netanyahu said the two leaders examined three possible approaches during their closed-door meeting Tuesday: reaching a negotiated agreement with Tehran, maintaining the blockade and other forms of economic pressure, or intensifying military action.

“We actually analyzed all three possibilities,” Netanyahu said. He added that the final choice belonged to Trump: “It’s his decision. It’s his decision.”

A senior Israeli official separately described the options as “a deal, continuing the blockade and economic pressures, and a massive strike.” The official said Netanyahu had not advocated one particular course of action and denied that the Israeli leader had urged Trump to order an immediate attack.

The comments appeared intended to counter a growing perception that Netanyahu was attempting to pull Trump deeper into the conflict. US and Israeli officials had previously said Netanyahu planned to present intelligence concerning Iran’s remaining nuclear and missile capabilities during the meeting.

Trump said ahead of the talks that Netanyahu wanted the US to remain involved, contributing to speculation that the Israeli premier would press for a return to large-scale combat operations. Netanyahu dismissed the suggestion that he had manipulated Trump either before the war or during their latest discussions.

Netanyahu also rejected claims that he had misled Trump about the prospects for rapidly defeating Iran or bringing down its government. He said no foreign leader could dictate US policy to the president.

The interview came hours before the US completed a new two-hour wave of strikes against dozens of targets inside Iran. US Central Command said the attacks hit Iranian Revolutionary Guard command centers, missile and drone facilities, coastal defenses and maritime capabilities.

CENTCOM described the operation as a “powerful response” to an Iranian ballistic-missile attack against American forces in Jordan a day earlier. The US military said all the incoming missiles were intercepted in what it characterized as an attempted surprise attack. Iran acknowledged firing toward US bases in Jordan.

Trump had promised retaliation shortly before the attack, saying the US would hit Iran “very hard.” The new operation began at 8 pm Eastern time Wednesday and ended two hours later, according to CENTCOM.

The renewed strikes demonstrated the difficulty of separating military pressure from diplomacy. Trump has repeatedly alternated between threats of escalation and assertions that an agreement with Iran remains possible.

Netanyahu expressed deep skepticism about whether Tehran could be trusted to uphold a diplomatic settlement. He accused Iranian leaders of repeatedly using negotiations to delay decisions while easing pressure on the regime.

The prime minister nevertheless said the possibility of diplomacy could be tested if negotiations were accompanied by sufficient economic, military and political pressure. He said Israel’s overriding objective remained preventing Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons.

Iran insists its nuclear program is peaceful and says it is not seeking an atomic bomb. Israel and the US contend that Tehran’s nuclear work, missile development and underground facilities present an unacceptable threat.

The Strait of Hormuz was also a major subject of the Trump-Netanyahu meeting. Iran has used threats against shipping and energy exports passing through the narrow waterway as a central source of leverage during the war.

Netanyahu argued that Iran’s ability to exert pressure through the strait could eventually be weakened by developing alternative energy routes. He suggested that pipelines could carry oil and gas toward the Red Sea and then through Israel to the Mediterranean, reducing global dependence on the Iranian-controlled passage.

Trump, meanwhile, raised concerns about the effects of the war on oil prices and the broader global economy. The closure or severe disruption of the Strait of Hormuz has increased energy costs and complicated the administration’s calculations as the US approaches the November midterm elections.

Netanyahu said Iran had been substantially weakened during the five-month war but acknowledged that the Islamic Republic’s government had not collapsed. He predicted that the regime would eventually fall, though he offered no timetable.

He also warned Tehran against expanding the fighting by directly attacking Israel. Such an attack would be a “perilous mistake,” Netanyahu said, adding that Israel would respond “very, very forcefully.”

The interview followed a period of unusually visible friction between Netanyahu and senior members of the Trump administration. Vice President JD Vance recently accused elements in the Israeli government of attempting to shape US public opinion and undermine negotiations with Iran.

Netanyahu said he had spoken with Vance and believed the two had resolved the dispute. He denied that prolonging the war or blocking diplomacy was Israeli government policy.

The prime minister also acknowledged declining support for Israel among parts of the American public. He attributed some of that change to social-media manipulation and foreign-operated bot networks, while stressing that maintaining support from both major US parties remained important to Israel’s security.

Benjamin NetanyahuDonald Trump