Trump and Netanyahu vs Iran: a fait accompli
Like him or loathe him, Israel's Prime Minister's determination to rid the world of Iran's Islamic regime has never been a secret
Some 16-years have passed since Benjamin Netanyahu issued a stark warning about the evil Iran was exporting to the world, in the presence of then President Barack Obama. Netanyahu’s passion was palpable as he described in detail, at a gathering of the Israel-lobby group AIPAC, how Iran was a major sponsor of terrorism from Africa to Europe and the Middle East. If not stopped, the Islamic Republic intended to ‘annihilate Israel.’
As a delegate-visitor to AIPAC, in my then capacity as a vice-president of the Board of Deputies, Netanyahu’s words – received with strong applause – left a lasting impression. He spoke firmly and eloquently and with bravery in the presence of an American leader who was convinced it was possible to deal with the Iran by negotiation. Describing himself as ‘Mishpacha’ (family) Obama said his policy was not about containment. ‘I have a policy to prevent Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon.’
The chasm in thinking between the two allies was obvious and some delegates felt the strength of Netanyahu’s criticism of Obama’s approach, on his home turf in Washington, was reckless. After all the US, through its miliary assistance to Jerusalem, was a protector of Israel’s national interest.
Since February 28, when the US and Israel unleashed their assault on Iran, there has been interminable discussion about what prompted the action. Speculation has focused on the idea of unfinished business from the terrible atrocities of 7 October, 2023. Clearly that was a major factor, given the role of the now eliminated Ayatollah Khamenei in arming and financing Hamas’s brutal attacks.
Having listened closely to Netanyahu back in 2010 and the forensic intelligence he offered of Iran’s role in global terrorism, including the loss of life on the streets of Europe, I have never been in any doubt about his purpose. Defanging Iran, its rulers and the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) was at the heart of his political project.
Netanyahu is a terribly divisive figure. His attacks on the freedom of the press and NGOs in Israel are anathema in a pluralistic society. The attempts to dilute the independence of the Supreme Court, an enormous affront to democracy, were at the heart of the street demonstrations before 7 October.
Netanyahu’s passage of the Nation-State Law in 2014 was an attack on Israel’s ethnic diversity and in particular Israel’s two million or more Arab Israeli, Druze and Bedouin citizens. It was particularly jarring given the many Druze and Bedouin Israeli citizens who have donned the uniforms of the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) and serve so loyally and courageously with Jewish citizens.
The inclusion of extremists Itamar Ben-Gvir and Bezalel Smotrich, in senior government roles, has proved a challenge to traditional Jewish values and spread fear, loathing and violence in the West Bank territories.
Yet even those who have come to despise Benjamin Netanyahu, including alienated Likud supporters among my closest Israeli friends, have been supportive of the current campaign.
It is recognised that it may well mean that Netanyahu’s ambitions to hang on to power and evade justice are extended. But what cannot be in any doubt is the Israeli Prime Minister’s determination to end the terror for Israel, the Iranian people and the world perpetrated by the Ayatollahs and the IRGC. Netanyahu had to wait out the Obama administration, the first more timid Trump presidency and Joe Biden to persuade a US President of the justice of moving against Iran.
For Israel battling Iran is war of long survival against a nation seeking to secure nuclear capability and hone ballistic missile skills. Trump felt empowered to attack by the perceived success of the 12-day war in 2025 and the more recent triumph in securing a regime change in Venezuela.
The mercurial US President became persuaded that negotiations with the Iranian regime were impossible. Israel’s brilliant intelligence about Iran (some of it evident in the Apple TV+ series Tehran) helped make the joint US-Israel attacks on Iran possible.
No one should ever forget that vanquishing the Islamic Republic is an unalloyed ambition of Netanyahu, embedded in his DNA. It has been a long wait, but when the opportunity and casas belli (justification) arose, the Israeli PM and Trump gripped it unambiguously.
- Alex Brummer, City Editor, The Daily Mail
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