Trump tells Netanyahu not to strike Iran
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President Trump aboard Air Force One on June 5. Photo: SAUL LOEB / AFP via Getty Images)
President Trump told Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu Sunday not to retaliate against Iran's missile attack and allow more time for diplomacy, according to a senior U.S. official and an Israeli source familiar with details of the call.
Why it matters: Trump's effort to restrain an Israeli response signals his administration's push to keep escalating Israel-Iran tensions from derailing ongoing U.S. negotiations with Tehran.
State of play: Trump told Axios before the call that he planned to urge Netanyahu not to retaliate against Iran's missile attack, which Tehran said was a response to an Israeli strike in Beirut earlier Sunday.
- The senior U.S. official said the Trump administration didn't give a "green light" to the Israeli strike in Beirut.
Behind the scenes: Trump told Netanyahu during the call to hold off because "we are close to doing something good in terms of a deal," according to the U.S. official.
- Netanyahu pushed back but ultimately "pseudo agreed" to stand down, the official said.
- The official said Sunday's call was calmer than last week's tense exchange between the leaders and that Trump did not raise his voice at Netanyahu.
- "We think the president bought a little bit of time. He is pretty adamant that we are close to a deal with Iran. I don't think anything is imminent in terms of an Israeli strike," the U.S. official said.
- "We are in a moment in time — that why jeopardize a potential deal when you are in the fourth quarter? The president thinks that we have been in this thing for three months — now is the time to end this thing," the U.S. official added.
What he's saying: Trump told the Financial Times that Netanyahu "won't have any choice" but to accept any deal the U.S. secures from negotiations with Iran.
- "I call the shots. I call all the shots. He doesn't call the shots," Trump said of Netanyahu.
Go deeper: Israel strikes Beirut after Hezbollah attack
