Israel says Trump is trying to normalize fire at it after tense call with Netanyahu

Following heightened expectations that Iran might respond to an earlier strike in Beirut’s Dahiyeh, the article says a negotiation was taking shape in which Tehran would make a gesture to U.S. President Donald Trump in exchange for benefits and refrain from firing missiles at Israel. At the same time, Washington was also pressing Israel to avoid retaliating if Iran still decided to launch rockets, in order to contain the incident and prevent escalation.

After another reported “shouting call” between Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Trump, an Israeli official accused the U.S. president of trying “to normalize fire at Israel.” Israeli officials said Washington believed Israel struck in Dahiyeh to undermine the emerging deal with Iran, and said the anger in Washington toward Israel was very strong.

The article says Netanyahu rejected Trump’s demands not only for a ceasefire in Lebanon but also to begin a withdrawal. Israeli sources said Trump’s harsh language toward the prime minister was “unfair and does not reflect relations with an ally.” They also said they struggled to understand why Trump was trying to tie Israel’s hands while dismissing Hezbollah’s repeated violations of Israeli sovereignty through continuous fire.

Trump told Fox News that after the strike on Hezbollah’s stronghold in Beirut he called Netanyahu and asked, “What the hell are you doing?” He said he told Netanyahu not to carry out further attacks on Hezbollah so the developing deal with Iran would not be harmed. Trump also claimed the agreement with Iran would be signed “within two or three hours,” and in an Axios interview he described another rebuke call to Netanyahu that Israeli officials again called unfair.