President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu used different language to describe Israel’s decision to strike a major Iranian gas field, highlighting the most visible split between the two leaders since the 20-day war with Iran began.
Israel’s attack on the South Pars gas field, a key Iranian energy asset, prompted Iranian retaliation against energy infrastructure in other Middle East countries. The strikes pushed already-high global energy prices higher and led Gulf allies to urge Trump to rein in Netanyahu.
The episode raised questions about whether the two leaders remain fully coordinated in prosecuting a conflict that began as a closely coordinated assault on a longtime regional adversary. Any apparent daylight between them could affect the course of the fighting and the eventual endgame.
Speaking in the Oval Office during a meeting with Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi, Trump said he neither agreed with nor approved of Israel’s strike. He quoted himself telling Netanyahu, “Don’t do that,” and added, “We get along great. It’s coordinated, but on occasion he’ll do something. And if I don’t like it — and so we’re not doing that anymore.”
Netanyahu said Israel “acted alone” and that he had agreed to Trump’s request to halt any further attacks on the giant gas field. He sought to downplay any rift, saying at a Jerusalem news conference that his long warnings about Iran echoed Trump’s, and insisting, “I don’t think any two leaders have been as coordinated as President Trump and I. He’s the leader. I’m his ally. America is the leader.”
Trump’s first public response to Wednesday’s strike came hours later in a forceful social media post in which he also asserted the U.S. “knew nothing” about the attack beforehand. Two people familiar with the matter, speaking on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to comment, said the U.S. was made aware of Israel’s plan ahead of the attack and that Israel’s targets are being coordinated with the U.S.
Top U.S. administration officials argued Thursday that Trump is largely aligned with Netanyahu but emphasized the president’s decisions are ultimately guided by U.S. national security interests. Those interests have shaped a U.S. air campaign focused on crippling Iran’s missile program, striking its nuclear infrastructure and degrading its navy. Israel, by contrast, has pursued a campaign of high-level assassinations aimed at unseating Tehran’s clerical leaders.
Netanyahu has cast the conflict as a chance to usher in a new Middle East era led by a more moderate government in Tehran less hostile to Israel. He is buoyed by stronger Israeli public support for the war than exists in the United States, giving him political room to pursue a prolonged operation that could aim to topple Iran’s clerical rule.
But the U.S. objectives, as described by officials, differ from Israel’s. Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard told House intelligence committee members that “the objectives that have been laid out by the president are different from the objectives that have been laid out by the Israeli government.”
Trump has also moderated his public stance on overthrowing Iran’s clerical rulers. Early in the campaign, he spoke confidently about Iranians getting a chance to rid themselves of 47 years of clerical rule. In a more recent Fox News Radio interview, he sounded more cautious about the prospects for domestic opposition, noting the Basij paramilitary’s role in crushing protests and calling it “a very big hurdle” for unarmed opponents. Asked whether he agreed with Netanyahu’s calls for Iranians to take back their country, Trump said he did not think they were ready and added, “I would think that Bibi would understand that too.”
Over Trump’s five years in the White House, Netanyahu has been one of his most consistent foreign allies, and the Israeli leader often praises the U.S.-Israel relationship as stronger than ever under Trump.
