Netanyahu denies ‘misleading’ Trump over Iran

The Israeli prime minister says the US president has always been fully on board with his rationale for the war.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has denied claims that he dragged the US into a costly war with Iran, which has entered its third week with no end in sight.

Democrats and some Republicans have argued that by launching strikes on Iran in late February, Trump embarked on a ‘forever war’ on Israel’s behalf. Recently, Joe Kent, who resigned as head of the US National Counterterrorism Center, claimed that Trump and his team were swayed by the Israel lobby.

“Does anyone really think that someone can tell President Trump what to do? Come on,” Netanyahu said at a press conference on Thursday, adding that Trump “always makes his decisions based on what he thinks is good for America.”

“I misled no one, and I didn’t have to convince President Trump about the need to prevent Iran from developing its nuclear program, putting it underground, and being able to launch nuclear-tipped missiles at the United States. He understood that,” he added.

“He explained it to me. I didn’t explain it to him. And I think that our partnership is the only way to avoid this catastrophic development.”

This week, cracks in the US-Israeli war effort have appeared, as Trump criticised Israel for striking Iran’s South Pars gas field on Wednesday. In a post on Truth Social, Trump said Israel acted “out of anger” and indicated it would not target the field again.

The conflict has driven up already high energy prices, as the US has been unable to secure shipping through the Strait of Hormuz, which Iran has closed to Western vessels. The US-Israeli plan to spark a popular uprising in Iran has failed to materialize, with the country remaining defiant despite the killing of its top political and military leaders.