“Lovers’ Spat”: Israeli Envoy On Trump’s Iran Ultimatum To Netanyahu

Washington:

Iran and Israel have said that hostilities between them have halted after the two countries exchanged strikes that threatened to reignite the war in the Middle East. According to media reports, Israel stopped attacking Iran after US President Donald Trump warned his ‘good friend’ and Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that the Jewish state risks losing Washington’s backing if it launches more strikes against Tehran. 

However, Israel’s Ambassador to the US, Yechiel Leiter, pushed back on reports of an ultimatum, claiming the conversations between the two leaders were cooperative and accusing journalists of playing up a misleading narrative.

“They have a deep friendship that goes back some 40 years, and sometimes lovers have a spat, and sometimes the tension in the room and on the conversation can get a little heated,” Leiter said while talking to Fox News. 

The Israeli diplomat claimed that while the Israeli leader “decided” to “lower the temperature” on military action against Iran at Trump’s request, the US president understands “full well” Israel can’t “absorb ballistic missiles into our country without responding”.

“For the most part, we’re dealing with a very, very close collaborative effort between the United States and Israel, and there’s tremendous understanding,” he added.

Trump ‘Frustrated’ With Netanyahu

Meanwhile, Trump, who has reportedly grown increasingly exasperated with Netanyahu, had earlier urged both Israel and Iran to stop “shooting” and said that “final negotiations” towards peace would proceed “subject to ignorance or stupidity getting in its way”.

The Israeli premier, though, said in a televised statement he had told Trump that “Israel has a full right to self-defence, and we are exercising it as required”.

Quoting an Israeli military official, CBS reported that Israel was prepared to continue operations for “as long as it takes,” and confirmed strikes on newly rebuilt Iranian air defence systems in addition to the petrochemical target.

Iranian officials struck a similarly defiant tone. A military source quoted by the semi-official Tasnim news agency said Tehran was ready for a prolonged conflict and could renew strikes against US interests in the region. Iranian Parliament Speaker, MB Ghalibaf, warned that the trust deficit with the US and Israel will continue triggering regional escalations in the future as well. 

“We have disrupted the equation of a ceasefire on paper and its repeated violations in the field. As long as you lack the genuine will to build trust, Iran’s response will be exactly this,” he wrote in a post on X.