Who calls the shots? Trump and Netanyahu clash over diverging goals in Middle East war

{"text":[[{"start":12.3,"text":"Donald Trump’s relationship with Benjamin Netanyahu has withstood a number of crises since the two joined forces to wage war on Iran, but his frustration with the Israeli leader has burst into the open over his continued attacks on Lebanon and Iran."}],[{"start":26.950000000000003,"text":"“I call the shots. I call all the shots. [Netanyahu] doesn’t call the shots,” Trump exclaimed in an interview with the FT on Sunday. Would Netanyahu ultimately have to accept a deal with Iran? “He won’t have a choice.” "}],[{"start":39.150000000000006,"text":"The friction comes as the interests of Israel and the US diverge, with Trump under mounting pressure to settle conflict in the Middle East and tame petrol prices ahead of midterm elections in November, and Netanyahu accused by his domestic critics of failing to achieve the goals he set at the start of the fighting."}],[{"start":null,"text":"

"}],[{"start":57.35000000000001,"text":"By Monday afternoon, Trump and Netanyahu had spoken, according to a White House official, and hostilities in the Middle East were easing after the most intense exchange of fire between Israel and Iran since the early April ceasefire. "}],[{"start":71.60000000000001,"text":"But the Israeli prime minister had once again shown that he remained willing to defy Trump and risk inflaming the Middle East anew, as he forced the president to plead on social media for Israel — as well as Iran — to “immediately stop shooting”. "}],[{"start":85.15,"text":"A US defence official on Monday said American forces had not joined Israel’s attacks on Iran over the previous day, in a sign of Washington’s displeasure at the last strikes on Lebanon and Iran. The official said the US did launch interceptors to defend its troops in Israel, however."}],[{"start":null,"text":""}],[{"start":101.05000000000001,"text":"During his second term, Trump has largely embraced Netanyahu’s vision on how to deal with Iran and its regional proxies, including Hizbollah. In February he became the first US president to start a war against the Islamic republic following decades of urging by Israeli leaders — particularly Netanyahu — after carrying out strikes against Iran’s nuclear sites last June. "}],[{"start":125.15,"text":"Other US presidents’ frustrations with the Israeli leader have occasionally burst into public view — Bill Clinton famously asked aides “Who’s the fucking superpower here?” after a testy encounter in 1996. In Trump’s case, the eruptions have been intense, with the president frequently hurling swear words at the Israeli leader for his unwillingness to stop bombing Iran last June or Lebanon last week."}],[{"start":148.95000000000002,"text":"But despite the friction, there is scant indication that Trump is prepared to deploy stronger leverage, such as denying US military aid to Israel. "}],[{"start":null,"text":""}],[{"start":158.75000000000003,"text":"During his presidency he has provided stronger support for the Israeli leader than previous administrations, speaking out against Netanyahu’s corruption charges, removing sanctions on illegal Israeli settler activity and barrelling past Democrats’ holds on arms transfers."}],[{"start":174.50000000000003,"text":"“We get along very well. We’ve been great comrades. We did a very, very big number on a certain country that was nothing but trouble for 47 years,” Trump told NBC on Friday. "}],[{"start":185.85000000000002,"text":"“President Trump has a strong relationship with Prime Minister Netanyahu, and Israel has always been a great ally to the United States. There has been no greater friend to Israel and a fighter for peace than President Trump,” a White House spokesperson said on Monday. "}],[{"start":201.45000000000002,"text":"But Trump’s determination to end the war has left Netanyahu in an increasingly uncomfortable position at home as he tries to balance the demands of Israel’s most important ally with popular opinion in Israel ahead of an election later this year."}],[{"start":215.50000000000003,"text":"Polls suggest a majority of Israelis favour continuing the fighting with Iran, with most believing that the country has failed to achieve its goals. A survey by the Institute for National Security Studies last month found only 37 per cent of the population was satisfied with the results so far."}],[{"start":235.30000000000004,"text":"“Netanyahu has two bad options,” said Aviv Bushinsky, a political analyst who previously served as the prime minister’s chief of staff."}],[{"start":244.60000000000005,"text":"“He can either bow down to Trump and do what he expects him to do — but there is a domestic political price to that. Or he can disengage from Trump. But I don’t think that Israel can afford to [go into a full-scale war with Iran] on its own, especially on the defensive side.”"}],[{"start":261.90000000000003,"text":"On Monday, Netanyahu opted for a bit of both. Despite Trump publicly urging him not to attack Iran after it fired missiles at Israel in retaliation for an Israel strike in Beirut, he ordered Israeli forces to hit targets in Iran for the first time since a fragile ceasefire between the two sides took effect in April."}],[{"start":283.3,"text":"But by the end of the day, with Trump ratcheting up his demands for a truce and fear of an uncontrolled escalation rippling through the region, Netanyahu called a halt to the strikes."}],[{"start":294,"text":"Israeli officials said the country carried out the attacks because it could not accept a situation in which Iran fired at it in retaliation for Israeli strikes in Lebanon."}],[{"start":303.55,"text":"“Iran and the Trump administration see the Iran and Lebanon theatres as united, and Israel sees them as distinct,” said Richard Fontaine, chief executive of the Center for a New American Security, a Washington think-tank. “Israel has been dealing with Lebanon-based militants since the 1970s, and no deal will leave it unwilling to defend its northern border indefinitely,” he added. "}],[{"start":326.55,"text":"Dahlia Scheindlin, a Tel Aviv-based pollster and political analyst, said there was also an element of “political theatre” to the public disagreements."}],[{"start":335.25,"text":"“Trump is basically trying to show the American public that he’s trying to keep the war from re-escalating and he’s trying to keep America from getting involved again,” she said. “And Netanyahu looks good to his domestic audience because he’s defying Trump.”"}],[{"start":350.05,"text":"However, opposition politicians have seized on Netanyahu’s about-turn on the strikes — the second time in a week that the Israeli premier had shelved military plans at Trump’s behest — and accused him of capitulation."}],[{"start":363.15000000000003,"text":"Naftali Bennett, the former prime minister who is likely to be one of Netanyahu’s main challengers in the election, which must be held by October, accused him of “normalising” periodic Iranian attacks on Israel by not continuing the fighting."}],[{"start":379.05,"text":"Meanwhile, Gadi Eisenkot, a former head of the Israel Defense Forces who is also likely to be a challenger to Netanyahu, posted a video of Trump saying on a loop that Netanyahu “will do whatever I want him to do”."}],[{"start":392.65000000000003,"text":"“When the war with Iran began, the opposition was very supportive . . . because they thought it was going to be a successful war, and therefore there was no alternative but to support it,” said Bushinsky, the prime minister’s former chief of staff."}],[{"start":406.40000000000003,"text":"“But now they are accusing Netanyahu of having no strategy. Why do they say it? Because they know that the war will not achieve its goals.”"}],[{"start":425.3500000000001,"text":""}]],"url":"https://audio.ftcn.net.cn/album/a_1780986376_8182.mp3"}