Trump’s Iran Policy Could Force Israel Into a Dangerous New Equation

The article argues that Donald Trump, despite being seen as friendlier to Israel than Joe Biden, is making a strategic mistake by accepting an Iranian formula that treats an Israeli strike in Beirut as equivalent to an Iranian attack on Israel. It says Trump’s push for diplomatic wins before the November midterm elections, and his belief that Iran will abandon its nuclear program, is leading Washington to tolerate a dangerous reality rather than confront it.

The writer says Israel’s targeted strike against a senior Hezbollah figure could trigger a barrage of ballistic missiles against Israeli civilians, while the White House appears mainly interested in reaching a memorandum of understanding to end the fighting and open two more months of negotiations. The article says the Trump administration is repeating American mistakes from the past and ignoring Iran’s pattern of deception, including its failure to meet the terms of the 2015 nuclear deal, which led Trump to leave that agreement in 2018.

The piece says Operation “Rage of the Lion” did not achieve all of its stated goals. Trump had set out to stop Iran’s nuclear program, halt the missile threat, and end proxy activity, but the author says the only major success was the destruction of Iran’s navy, described as the easiest target. According to the article, Trump is willing to live with an Iranian nuclear capability and even with the ballistic missile threat that supports Hezbollah.

It also says the current situation contradicts U.S. interests in the Gulf, where countries have faced drone and missile attacks on their bases and have not felt safer under American backing. The article rejects claims that the operation brought the Gulf states closer to the Abraham Accords, saying they emerged weaker. It concludes that Israel must not let U.S. pressure limit its freedom of action against Hezbollah, and if Iran fires missiles and Trump tells Israel not to retaliate, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu would need to answer, “I respect you, Mr. President, but Israel is my country,” and strike painful Iranian assets, especially energy facilities.