War Is Costly

Turning Trump’s Curses into Blessings

When President Trump reportedly told Prime Minister Netanyahu — in profanity-laced terms — that Beirut and its suburbs were off-limits to IDF attacks while Washington hosted talks between Lebanon and Israel, Netanyahu dismissed it in a CNBC interview as a “tactical disagreement.” He even joked that if people thought this was a crisis point, they clearly had not heard some of the tougher conversations the two leaders had held on other occasions.

Trump’s directive became moot a few days later when Israel struck targets in Dahieh, a southern suburb of Beirut, in response to Hezbollah’s rocket attacks into Israeli territory. The situation escalated a few hours later when Iran and the Houthis fired missiles into Israel, violating Trump’s contrived ceasefire.

However, Trump’s tirade is still resonating in Israel.

There are two interesting perspectives on how to measure these developments. One holds that Trump is looking for an out card from the Iran conflict, and he’s keeping Israel on a short leash. Proof comes from Trump’s remarks to the Financial Times that he is “calling the shots” and that Netanyahu must accept any deal he makes with Iran.