US President Donald Trump told Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Thursday that it is time to end the war with Iran, Axios reported on Saturday.
A senior US official told Axios that Trump called Netanyahu on Thursday evening and described the potential US-Iran agreement as “a great deal.”
“This is the deal,” said Trump. “It’s a great deal, and it’s time to end this war.”
The official said that Netanyahu expressed to Trump his concern that the deal must address Iran’s nuclear program, but avoided any significant argument with the US president.
“Bibi probably understood that a deal was about to happen and that he could not stop it,” said the official.
Axios cited a source with direct knowledge of the call who said Netanyahu was caught off guard by the pending agreement.
The source added that the Israeli prime minister was not directly involved in the talks and had been contacting his Washington allies for information on the status of US-Iran negotiations.
Axios: Israel avoiding public criticism of deal
According to Axios, Israeli officials are concerned about the contents of the US-Iran deal, but have avoided publicly criticizing it.
“I understand the Israeli skepticism,” a US official told reporters on Friday. “Hezbollah killed a lot of innocent Israelis, especially Israeli civilians. So we don’t expect any country to give up their right of self-defense.
“What we do expect is that if we’re able to have everyone participate in the peace process, that everyone else will do the same,” the official said, adding that Washington is confident that Israel will “get on board” with the deal.
Defense Minister Israel Katz said on Friday that the pending deal was based upon Trump’s “assessment of American interests,” saying that Israel reserves the right to act independently against Iran’s nuclear program.
According to the report, Israel is further concerned that the deal could limit IDF operations against Hezbollah in Lebanon.
The senior US official noted to Axios that further Iranian support for Hezbollah would violate the agreement, as would any Hezbollah fire upon Israel.
“We feel like when they see the full terms of the deal, and when they appreciate that fundamentally, that there has to be delivery from the Iranians before we deliver any of the benefits, that they’re comfortable with that,” the official concluded.