The Israeli leadership will not dare to strike Iran's nuclear infrastructure without the direct approval and support of US President Donald Trump, writes the Financial Times, citing Israeli and Arab diplomats.
According to them, Israel will refrain from military action without the support of the White House for fear of "angry" Trump and losing his support. On the other hand, the Jewish state is aware that strikes against Iran without US participation will have a very limited effect. At the same time, Trump himself is currently focused on finding diplomatic ways to resolve the problems related to the Iranian nuclear program.
The US president, as the publication notes, is not giving in to pressure from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who is seeking to provoke more decisive and aggressive actions from Washington.
According to the newspaper's sources, Netanyahu tried to convince Trump to support military strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities even before the president took office, but did not achieve the desired result.
At the same time, the newspaper notes, after Trump came to power, Netanyahu began to behave more confidently and aggressively in the Middle East, launching active strikes on Lebanon, Syria and the Gaza Strip. The Israeli government is aware of the changing position of the Trump administration, so diplomats believe that it will act cautiously and not provoke Washington with uncoordinated actions on the Iranian front.
Earlier, Reuters reported that Israel had presented the United States with several options for striking Iranian nuclear infrastructure sites. On April 17, The New York Times reported that Israel was preparing to strike Iran's nuclear facilities in May, confident that the United States would take an active part in preparing the attack and would ensure the protection of the Jewish state from a possible Iranian retaliatory strike. In turn, according to the publication, Donald Trump has taken a course towards a diplomatic settlement of differences with Iran and in early April informed Israel that he would not support such a military operation.