This story originally appeared in the JC Israel Briefing. You can sign up to receive the briefing daily here.
At a cabinet meeting on Tuesday night, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reportedly warned ministers that Israel could ultimately find itself confronting Iran without American support if an emerging agreement fails to meet Israeli security demands.
According to i24 News, Netanyahu told ministers: “We may reach a situation where we will have to deal with the Iranians alone, without US backing, with all the costs involved, armaments and global isolation. We don’t want to get there, but we know we can get there.”
The warning reflected growing concern in Jerusalem that Washington could pursue a diplomatic settlement that leaves Iran’s nuclear infrastructure intact while easing pressure on the regime.
According to i24 News, Lieutenant General Eyal Zamir, the IDF’s chief of staff, told ministers: “As we see it right now - almost every agreement is a bad agreement.”
A day before Netanyahu's comments to his cabinet, US President Trump reportedly warned the Israeli prime minister ahead of the IDF's retaliatory strikes against Iran that, if Israel escalated its confrontation with Tehran further, it could be left to fend for itself.
According to Axios, Trump told Netanyahu: “You better be careful, or you will be on your own very soon."
The remarks came amid increasingly public signs of divergence between Washington and Jerusalem over Iran.
Vice President JD Vance recently described the emerging agreement as a “home run for the American people” and acknowledged that US and Israeli interests do not always align, insisting that Washington would pursue what it believed was best for the US “whether Israel likes it or not”.
This story originally appeared in the JC Israel Briefing. You can sign up to receive the briefing daily here.
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