Donald Trump is seemingly done taking cues from his Israeli counterpart.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is fuming that the 79-year-old American president reached a temporary ceasefire deal with Iran without consulting his wartime partner, The Wall Street Journal reported.
Trump announced Tuesday night that he had agreed to a two-week ceasefire with Iran in the war he launched alongside Israel on Feb. 28. The decision came minutes ahead of his deadline for the country to reopen the Strait of Hormuz—a vital waterway for the global economy—or “a whole civilization will die tonight, never to be brought back again.”
According to the Journal, Israel had no role in brokering the deal and was only informed after it had been finalized. Netanyahu begrudgingly agreed to the terms, but Israeli officials “weren’t happy”—particularly with Lebanon’s inclusion in the deal.
That frustration was evident in the early hours of Wednesday, not long after Trump had effectively declared peace, as missile and drone attacks continued to rain down across the Middle East while Israel pressed ahead with its offensive.
As of 3 p.m. EST Wednesday, Israel’s bombardment of Lebanon had killed 254 people and wounded more than 1,165 since the ceasefire deal was announced, Al Jazeera reported.
Pakistan, which negotiated the deal between the U.S. and Iran, asserted that the agreement included Lebanon—a claim both Israel and, later, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt denied.
Meanwhile, Iran and the U.S. are publicly disputing what, exactly, the 10-point framework both countries allegedly agreed to actually entails.
Iran’s publicly reported plan diverges sharply from Trump’s claims, including provisions the U.S. had previously rejected before the war. What’s more, the regime appears intent on continuing uranium enrichment, while Trump insists Iran is willing to abandon both its uranium stockpile and its nuclear weapons program.
The dispute comes as new details emerge about the extent of Netanyahu’s influence over Trump.
A bombshell New York Times report on Tuesday revealed that Netanyahu pitched Trump on the joint war effort against Iran before it was launched without congressional approval on Feb. 28. During a secret meeting with Trump’s top advisers, the far-right Israeli leader outlined an outcome that U.S. officials later described to the president as “detatched from reality.”
Days after the meeting, CIA Director John Ratcliffe summed up Netanyahu’s pitch to Trump in one word: “farcical,” the Times reported.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio also weighed in, reportedly telling Trump: “In other words, it’s bull—t.”
The Daily Beast has reached out to the White House and the Israeli prime minister’s office for comment.
