Following the phone call President Donald Trump and Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu held Thursday night, senior White House officials told Walla that, at least for now, no meeting between the two leaders is being planned. The clarification came despite Trump saying over the weekend that they were expected to meet soon and the Prime Minister’s Office announcing last week that a meeting in the United States had been agreed upon.
Iran, meanwhile, issued its first direct threat against Israel since the latest escalation with the United States began. Mohammad-Bagher Zolqadr, secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, warned that attacks on Iranian infrastructure would be met with similar retaliation and that the “Zionist regime” would not be immune.
At the same time, Washington is seeking to prevent Israel from entering the current fighting. Two Israeli sources told CNN that the Trump administration fears Israeli involvement could cause the conflict to spiral out of control. One source said Netanyahu “would really want to join the U.S. strikes,” but that Washington does not want Israel involved at this stage.
Israeli sources also told i24NEWS that Iran currently has no interest in drawing Israel into the regional confrontation and is therefore not firing at Israel. The Iranian threat, however, suggests that could change if Tehran believes Israel is involved in attacks on its infrastructure.
Qatari mediators recently traveled to Iran in an effort to lower tensions and encourage renewed negotiations with the United States, Reuters reported. The talks in Tehran were coordinated with Washington.
(YWN World Headquarters – NYC)
2 Responses
The Israelis are talking as if they have allot to contribute if asked and that the US can really benefit from their involvement, that they are somehow capable of things the US is not. The reality is the idea that their pilots can use American made planes better than the Americans themselves shows both their arrogance and ignorance. Even worse is their idea that the US views itself this way, that the Israelis can at all add to what the US is already capable of doing on its own.
@notpsht: actually, israel IS capable of doing things that the us is not. note how many planes america has lost, so far: an e-3, 2 kc-135s, 4 f-15s, an a-10, 2 c-130s, some helicopters, and countless drones. and there’s the matter of improving the f-35, with better communications, more weapons and increased range. by the way, israel developed other things, too, like the conformal fuel tanks that american fighters use. but don’t let facts confuse your opinions.