One thing is beyond dispute, U.S. President Donald Trump does not want the war to resume. But it was convenient for him to say Sunday that he would call Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and ask him not to respond, alongside briefings that the prime minister would accept any agreement and that Trump alone decides. The conversation between the two appears to have been relatively calm, unlike the “curse-filled call,” with Trump asking Netanyahu to wait a few more days and Netanyahu trying to persuade him that Israel had to respond.
Bottom line: Trump asked, or at least said he would ask, and Israel attacked anyway. It is possible that Trump is allowing both sides to blow off steam until he says “enough.” It is also possible, as some in Iran and even among Republicans have suggested, that this is actually a deception maneuver.
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Maybe its a ruse? Trump and Netanyahu
(Photo: lev radin/Shutterstock, Nathan Howard/Reuters, Kawant Haju/AFP)
For now, the Israeli response is limited; some even describe it as symbolic. Now all that remains is to see what the Iranians do. Netanyahu knows that without American assistance and backing, Israel’s attack is limited and cannot continue for long. It is therefore likely that we are facing several days of fighting — perhaps until just before the start of the World Cup. On the other hand, the Iranians know this, and they could escalate missile fire, which can always deteriorate.
In the United States, officials are convinced that Netanyahu is trying with all his might to drag Trump back into the war and thwart the emerging agreement. Trump knows this and will not give Netanyahu that pleasure. Trump’s statement that nothing happened due to the Iranian strikes is embarrassing and shows that Trump does not understand much about the Middle East. Tehran is not Texas, and here the weak are not given a chance.
What is interesting is that Trump has not, at this stage, condemned the Israeli strike. Maybe because he is asleep, or maybe because the strike is not really significant and is part of his understanding with Netanyahu on a limited, symbolic attack. The harsh briefings heard Sunday against an Israeli response may have been intended to allow Netanyahu to wave the fact that he supposedly said “no” to Trump and attacked anyway, though in a somewhat symbolic way Trump could tolerate.
U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee, one of the pro-Israel voices, wrote Monday morning: "Iran fired missiles at Israel last night & early today. The missile alerts sounded at 6am in Jerusalem. They were intercepted thank God! Iran & its proxy agents of evil want to incinerate America & Israel. Mothership of Satan is in Tehran."
Among Republicans, some believe this was a deception maneuver. Mark Zell, head of the Republican Party in Israel, asserted Sunday that Trump’s statement that he would call on Netanyahu not to retaliate was a false display — or, as he put it, “classic Trump.”
“This is deliberate deception designed to keep the other side off balance,” Zell said. “President Trump knows exactly what needs to be done, and so does Netanyahu. Last night I said Netanyahu would pass the test — and he did. Israel struck Hezbollah in Lebanon and military targets in Iran. It is time to finish the job — and Israel understands that.”
'The U.S. and Israel are two sides of the same coin'
Raja News, a site affiliated with Iran’s Revolutionary Guards intelligence, advanced a similar line: “Behind the early morning attack stood the ‘Trump-Netanyahu’ deception game and the innocence of the Iranian media. Last night, media outlets flooded the space with coordinated reports whose purpose was to convey one clear message — cancellation of the attack, amid claims of Trump’s fierce opposition and his statement that ‘the decision is mine,’ along with reports in Israeli media about examining the possibility of not responding and Netanyahu’s approval of postponing the action.”
The conservative-radical site further claimed: “All these parts of the media puzzle painted one picture — the United States and Israel in a state of conflict, and the danger had passed. But these were big lies and tactical deception. The strike proved that all the reports that came last night were part of a coordinated show whose aim was to lower Iran’s alert level and enable a surprise attack.”
“It was a classic ‘good cop, bad cop’ exercise, while Trump played the role of the good cop, and Netanyahu maintained media silence and pretended to be pleased with himself in order to carry out his mission. This shows that the countries are operating in full coordination when it comes to their hostility toward Iran. The United States and Israel are two sides of the same coin. Today’s strike is further proof of that truth.”
What strengthens the reports of deception, incidentally, is the close military coordination between Israel and the U.S. Chief of Staff Eyal Zamir spoke twice over the past day with U.S. Central Command, CENTCOM. Such an attack requires coordination down to the smallest details, which may indicate that the Americans knew very well what the IDF was about to do.
If Trump truly wanted to prevent an attack, he could have, and he has proven that in the past. But this is convenient for him. It also serves his goal of increasing pressure on Iran to accept an agreement, or else the Israelis will go wild. The Iranians are no longer buying this game, and that is not what will make Mojtaba say “yes” to an agreement, perhaps because in his view Iran is the winner and therefore allows itself to behave this way.
This raises the question of whether Israel knew in advance that a strike in Dahieh would trigger an Iranian attack. Security officials assessed Sunday night that Iran would not dare attack, adding: “If only it attacks, then we’ll go back to ‘Harbu Darbu.’”
It is too early to assess what will come of the renewed strikes, which many in Israel believed would happen again in 2026. It is still unclear whether they will thwart a temporary agreement between the U.S. and Iran or whether the sides will return to all-out fighting. It is no secret that Israel wanted to resume fighting in order to hit infrastructure and energy targets and accelerate the fall of the regime. The problem is that Trump is entangled with the calendar: the World Cup, his birthday and the midterm elections. He has no time for long wars or rising gas prices.