Netanyahu Isn’t 'Defying' Trump Any More Than He Ever 'Defied' Biden
If Trump could force Netanyahu to stop bombing Iran today, he could have forced Netanyahu not to start bombing Iran yesterday, writes former defense intel analyst Harrison Mann.
“I am going to call Bibi right now and tell him not to retaliate,” Donald Trump declared last night, just hours before Benjamin “Bibi” Netanyahu did in fact retaliate, striking Iran. Trump claims he called back, threatening, “Bibi, you better be careful, or you will be on your own very soon.”
If we are to believe the multiple interviews the president made time for during a 24-hour geopolitical crisis, Trump put an end to the latest ceasefire-threatening cycle of escalation, which began yesterday when the Israeli prime minister bombed Beirut, prompting Tehran to attack Israel for the first time since the start of the April ceasefire, leading Netanyahu to cut off humanitarian aid to Gaza and, despite Trump proclaiming “I call all the shots. He doesn’t call the shots,” bombing Iran anyway. After a plaintive Trump Truth Social post calling for peace, and Yemen’s Houthis firing at Israel and threatening to close the Red Sea to Israeli shipping, Tehran and Tel Aviv stopped shooting at each other, at least for now.
Trump’s critics have called Netanyahu’s “defiance” of Trump a “humiliation“ for the president. That’s giving Trump a little too much credit.