Netanyahu Says Israel Is Not Subordinate to the U.S. After Tense Trump Call

New details emerged Friday about the tense call between U.S. President Donald Trump and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu after Israel struck the Dahieh district and Iran retaliated. At the same time, Israel’s security leadership said the country is prepared for an intense campaign against Iran even without American participation. The disclosures, first reported by Yedioth Ahronoth, offered a glimpse into the leaders’ relationship before Trump presented the emerging deal with Iran as an achievement.

At a cabinet meeting on Monday evening, Netanyahu told ministers about the conversation he had with Trump the previous night, saying Trump had tried to restrain Israel’s response. “Trump asked me, ‘Did they kill your people?’” Netanyahu recounted. “I said to him: ‘They did not kill. I am not prepared to accept the equation that only if they kill do we respond. If they attack inside Israeli territory, I respond and attack.’” Netanyahu also rejected claims that Israel had become a U.S. client state. “We are not subordinate to the Americans, we are their allies,” he said. “When you have a partner, you behave with him like a partner. We do not work against them, but with them.”

Netanyahu said Trump is determined to reach an agreement with Iran, but Israel will not allow its security interests to be harmed by any deal. “I told him that I very much understand his desire, but I think there will be no agreement, and we will not be the victim of this agreement,” he said.

IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir said Israel could strike Iran more forcefully and is ready for a major, sustained wave of attacks. “We have the endurance for an intense campaign alone against Iran, but of course we prefer to do it with the partner,” he said. Zamir added that preserving the U.S. alliance is itself a strategic objective, and said there could still be a joint campaign against Iran. He noted that the ties built with the U.S. military are “unprecedented.”

Military intelligence chief Maj. Gen. Shlomi Binder told ministers that Hezbollah’s position had changed dramatically. “An inversion has been created,” he said. “Hezbollah was built so that it would attack us if we attacked Iran. Now Iran is attacking to defend Hezbollah.” He said this showed the group’s weakness and that Hezbollah is “more on the run than in any other situation.” The head of military intelligence research added that Iran’s response to Israel was calibrated and limited from Tehran’s perspective.