Trump in extraordinary break with Netanyahu as he slaps down bloody regime change plot with brutal warning
Donald Trump brutally rejected Benjamin Netanyahu’s pressure for the United States to incite a bloody street revolution to overthrow the Iranian regime.
“Why should we tell people to take to the streets when they’re going to be defeated?” Trump said to Netanyahu in a phone call last week. he said.
The call came just hours after Iranian security chief Ali Larijani was killed in an Israeli attack last Tuesday. A US official and an Israeli source told Axios that Netanyahu told Trump that the regime was in disarray and there was a window for popular uprising.
But Trump feared a massacre, considering that thousands of Iranians had been slaughtered by paramilitary forces during pre-war anti-regime protests.
Netanyahu and Trump agreed to wait and see whether Iranians would go out without incentives during the annual fire festival, a source said.
But Netanyahu went ahead anyway, saying on television: ‘Our planes are shooting down terrorist agents… The purpose of this is to allow the brave Iranian people to celebrate the fire festival. So go out and celebrate… We’re watching from above.’
The rupture clearly reveals a widening rift between the two leaders, with Washington quietly distancing itself from Jerusalem on regime change even as Trump encouraged popular uprising when the war began.
Netanyahu has since secretly gathered his generals and pushed for a 48-hour strike on Iran’s most important targets even as Trump tries to sign a quick peace deal.
Donald Trump points his finger at Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as they shake hands at a press conference after meeting at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago club in Palm Beach, Florida, United States, December 29.
Israel is carrying out a wide range of military offensives in the Middle East, including in Gaza and Lebanon, where Iranian proxy forces are active against Netanyahu’s forces (pictured: A fireball explodes following an Israeli attack near a tent camp housing war-displaced people in Deir al-Balah, in the central Gaza Strip, on March 25)
Netanyahu gathered Israeli commanders in a bunker deep inside Tel Aviv on Tuesday after reviewing Trump’s 15-point peace plan.
The Israeli prime minister and his top military advisers were concerned that the US plan did not go far enough to limit Tehran’s military capabilities.
Sources say Netanyahu’s Thursday deadline reflects the Israeli government’s deep concern that Trump could strike a deal with Tehran at any time.
Israeli officials present at Netanyahu’s underground meeting described the atmosphere as ‘tense’.
Iran rejected the offer on Wednesday, but Israeli media reported that Trump remained optimistic about the deal and that a ceasefire could come as early as next Saturday.
Netanyahu’s inner circle intends to achieve three primary war goals: eliminating Iran’s ballistic missile stockpile, ensuring that Tehran cannot develop a nuclear warhead, and creating an environment for civilians in Iran to overthrow the Islamic regime.
Boaz Bismuth, from Netanyahu’s party, said: “You cannot end the war if you cannot achieve the three goals.”
Trump has not mentioned regime change in his messages since the early days of the war, and the White House does not list it among the four official goals: destroying Iran’s missiles, navy, armed proxies and nuclear capabilities.
From his Tel Aviv bunker, Benjamin Netanyahu gave Israeli commanders 48 hours to destroy Iran’s arms industry
Netanyahu’s Thursday deadline reflects the Israeli government’s deep concern that Trump could strike a deal with Tehran at any time
Pentagon chiefs last night ordered about 2,000 paratroopers from the 82nd Airborne Division heading to the Middle East to join about 4,500 Marines already on the way, as Trump’s peace push shows signs of weakening.
According to those close to him, the President is ready to pull the trigger on a full-scale invasion if Tehran continues to reject his diplomatic overtures.
“Trump has one hand open for a deal, and the other is a fist waiting to punch you in the face,” a Trump aide told Axios.
Modeled on Trump’s Gaza deal, the 15-point plan would require Iran to eliminate all nuclear and long-range missile capabilities, open the Strait of Hormuz and abandon proxy terrorist groups.
However, Iranian state television reported on Wednesday that the regime rejected the offer completely and that Tehran demanded the closure of all US bases in the Gulf, compensation and an end to Israeli attacks on Hezbollah in Lebanon.
Tehran is also trying to take control of the strait, through which about one-fifth of the world’s oil passes, and allow it to collect tolls from passing ships, just as Egypt does with the Suez Canal.
A Trump official called Iran’s demands ‘ridiculous’ and ‘unrealistic’ and warned that reaching a deal was harder than before the war began now that the President is preparing a potential ground invasion force.
US and Iranian diplomats did not speak through direct contact; instead, they communicated through Middle Eastern intermediaries in Egypt, Türkiye, and Pakistan.
Netanyahu’s inner circle intends to achieve three main war goals: eliminating Iran’s ballistic missile stockpile, ensuring that Tehran cannot develop a nuclear warhead, and creating an environment for civilians in Iran to overthrow the Islamic regime.
Smoke and flames rise from air strike on oil depot in Tehran
Speaker of the Iranian parliament, Mohammed Bagher Qalibaf, in Tehran, Iran, February 1
Trump administration appears to have distanced itself from its goal of regime change after attacks on senior leadership failed to topple the government
Israel attacked Gaza early on Wednesday
Saudi Arabia has made clear that giving up control of the Strait of Hormuz is a non-starter, while Riyadh has urged Trump to stay in the fight.
In his calls last week, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman had repeatedly called on Trump to end the Islamic regime, including using ground forces to seize Iran’s energy fields.
Iran remains wary of Trump envoys Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff, accusing the pair of ‘backstabbing’ Tehran in negotiations ahead of the US and Israeli attacks on February 28.
Iranian officials are pushing for Vice President J.D. Vance to lead the U.S. negotiating team, whom they believe has been receptive after privately expressing doubts about Operation Epic Fury.
