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Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu sparked outrage after he reportedly said that the Trump administration gives him detailed updates on the Iran war and negotiations every day, despite U.S. officials stonewalling the American public and Congress on its aggression.
In an address to an Israeli cabinet meeting on Monday, Netanyahu said that he had a phone call on Sunday with U.S. Vice President JD Vance, who contacted Netanyahu on his way back from the failed talks in Islamabad, Pakistan.
“[Vance] reported to me in detail, as this administration does every day, about the development of the negotiations,” Netanyahu told his cabinet, according to Axios reporter Barak Ravid.
Netanyahu has sought to emphasize his close relationship with the U.S. amid the war, and said that he is in “constant coordination” with the U.S., per Times of Israel.
“The claims that there is a rift between us are completely false,” he said. “The exact opposite is true. Anyone who was present in these conversations, and in the daily discussions we hold with the president and his team, can attest to that…. This level of coordination has never existed before — not in the history of Israel, and not in the history of the Jewish people.”
The assertion that Netanyahu receives detailed updates each day while the administration has obfuscated or withheld information from U.S. officials and the public on the war sparked another wave of anger over Israel’s special treatment from U.S. officials.
“The Trump administration daily reports to Netanyahu on the Iranian war, but not Congress or the American people. Let that sink in,” said Rep. Mark Pocan (D-Wisconsin).
“The administration is not sharing most information in real time. I was struck by this conversation the other day with Prime Minister Netanyahu where he’s telling people he’s getting briefed every single morning by the administration. Well, they’re not briefing members of Congress,” said Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-Maryland) in an interview on Tuesday. “What we know we learn from news reports.”
Indeed, the administration’s comparative lack of public commentary stands in stark contrast to previous U.S. military assaults. Trump has only had one live televised address to the public since the start of the war, and vacillated about the war’s ultimate goals. Meanwhile, the information released to the public has been obfuscated, with the Pentagon seemingly seeking to hide the number of U.S. casualties or officials outright lying to the public.
Congress has also been kept in the dark about the war, lawmakers say, sparking frustration from even Republicans. GOP Rep. Mike Rogers (Alabama), chair of the House Armed Services Committee, expressed frustration late last month that the Trump administration was not giving members of Congress updates on plans, as rumors swirled about a potential ground invasion.
“We want to know more about what’s going on, what the options are, and why they’re being considered. And we’re just not getting enough answers on those questions,” Rogers said.
Frustration over U.S. officials favoring Israel over anything else has grown in recent weeks amid the Iran war. Some critics say that Israel is seeking to sabotage the temporary ceasefire agreement with intense strikes on Iran and other demands that are a non-starter.
Further in his remarks to his cabinet, Netanyahu said that there was an “explosion” in the Islamabad negotiations related to Iran’s nuclear power program. Indeed, reports say Iran has offered to suspend uranium enrichment for five years, but the U.S. demanded 20.
“[Vance] also made it clear to me that the main issue on the agenda for President Trump and the United States is the removal of all enriched material, and ensuring that there is no more enrichment in the coming years, and that could be in decades,” said Netanyahu. “That is their focus, and of course it is also important to us.”
Some analysts say that any frustration from Israel over Iran’s nuclear program is due to the Israeli government’s own actions.“Netanyahu’s statement is a case study in self-inflicted crises. The uranium stockpiles he wants gone didn’t exist under the 2015 deal he helped kill. The Hormuz crisis stems from the war he pushed for,” said Center for International Policy senior fellow Sina Toossi. “They broke what was working & demand solutions to the problems they created.”
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