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First in this hour, having already examined the UK's position with regards to the conflict currently raging in the Middle East
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it's time now to look at the roles of the Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and perhaps even more interesting, what part Donald Trump is going to be playing
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Because I said earlier, and other commentators have made the same observation
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that Trump is currently walking a tightrope. A man who came to office on a pledge to deliver peace has his closest ally fighting wars on multiple fronts
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was enabled by huge US military aid to Israel, $18 billion last year
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Netanyahu, on the other hand, is on, I would say, very familiar ground. As James O'Brien so eloquently reminded us
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only yesterday the Israeli leader has been grinding his gears about the existential threat posed by Iran's nuclear programme
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since 1992, when we were told, I think he said, that Israel was only months away from being eradicated
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by a nuclear attack. Here's Netanyahu speaking after Friday's attacks on Tehran
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And if not stopped, Iran could produce a nuclear weapon in a very short time
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It could be a year. It could be within a few months, less than a year. This is a clear and present danger to Israel's very survival
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The attacks capped more than 20 months of war between Israel and Iranian-backed groups like Hamas and Hezbollah
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a perilous situation most observers say has been exacerbated by the U.S. decision to pull back in the region
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and if you wanted any clarity from the White House, well, I think you would have been disappointed so far
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Secretary of State Marco Rubio stressed, and I'm quoting, Israel took unilateral action against Iran
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There was a lot of unilateral being stressed yesterday. And then he goes on, we're not involved in strikes against Iran
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and our top priority is protecting American forces in the region. Now, that American response suggests a little distance, perhaps
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between the two super close allies, unless it a double bluff which is something Donald Trump alluded to You remember earlier in the week the US president in between rallying his troops to invade California took time out to speak to Netanyahu by phone urging him not to strike Iran
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at least until after the US had exhausted attempts to negotiate a deal with Tehran
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It's all about the deal with Trump, right? On Thursday night, the president was publicly pleading with Netanyahu to show restraint
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Trump saying he believed an Israeli offensive would blow the negotiations. Iran's going to have to negotiate a little bit tougher, meaning they're going to have
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to give us some things that they're not willing to give us right now. I want to have an agreement with Iran
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We're fairly close to an agreement. We are fairly close to a pretty good agreement
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It's got to be better than pretty good, though, but it's got to be, I'd much prefer an agreement
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As long as I think there is an agreement, I don't want them going in because I think
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I would blow it. It might help it, actually, but it also could blow it
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but we've had very good discussions with Iran. Whether or not we get there, I can't tell you
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but it'll happen soon. So it might help it, but it could also blow it
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There's a conflict of thinking there. Trump appears to be saying, I think
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that a good thumping from Israel might help persuade Ayatollah Khamenei to see the sense in doing a deal with the US on its nukes
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This is the same Donald Trump who walked away from the last Iranian nuclear deal, the Joint Conferencing Plan of Action
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during his first term. or as Senator Chris Murphy of Connecticut put it
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Iran would not be this close to possessing a nuclear weapon if Trump and Netanyahu had not forced America
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out of the nuclear agreement with Iran that had brought Europe, Russia and China together
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behind the United States to successfully contain Iran's nuclear ambitions. My question for you this morning, dear listeners
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is can Donald Trump fix the problem that some say he created
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How do we feel about Benjamin Netanyahu taking on the self-appointed role of the world's policeman
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Can't say I'm a bundle about it. And lest we forget on the 21st of November last year warrants were approved by a panel of international criminal judges officially charging Netanyahu with war crimes and crimes against humanity committed in Gaza since 2023
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In a moment, I'm going to be speaking to a fellow of the American think tank
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the Foundation of Defence of Democracies, and a former international spokesperson for the IDF
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but first to LBC's brilliant Washington correspondent, Simon Marks. Good morning to you, Simon
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Morning, Matthew. So, Donald Trump, it's this confusing message from him that Israel attacking Iran could blow the deal that he's trying to strike with Iran, but it could make it
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Well, he's absolutely trying to keep every option open. And, you know, the search for consistency in Donald Trump's foreign policy is really a fruitless quest, I think
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I mean, this is a president of the United States who routinely, like a mantra, insists that Russia's war on Ukraine would never have happened if he was president
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The Hamas deadly attacks on Israel on October the 7th would never have happened if he had been president
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You know, Gaza would never have begun had he been president. And yet Israel's attack on Iran absolutely has happened while he is president of the United States
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I mean, it is evident that the U.S. received advanced warning from the Israelis of their plans
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We knew that in the middle of last week because we saw the United States suddenly evacuating diplomats and their families from the region
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And when President Trump was asked why that was happening as he left the White House to attend a Kennedy Performance Center
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a Kennedy Center performance of Les Mis, which you can't make up
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he simply looked at reporters and said you'll find out soon well of course reporters did find out soon
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because it was an evacuation that was ordered because Washington was forewarned by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that these attacks were going to take place The big question is did Washington give Bibi the go
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Did they try to dissuade him from this? And there are multiple versions of this story out there
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The website Axios is suggesting that this was all a brilliant double bluff
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by the United States and Israel, that absolutely the United States was heavily involved
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and encouraging the Israeli government to go ahead with this. There are all sorts of other reports that say no
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President Trump wanted these talks that were slated to take place, the next round of them, tomorrow in Oman
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They have now been suspended indefinitely. The Iranians walking away from their commitment to send their foreign minister to Oman
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for discussions tomorrow. So, you know, it's really hard to understand exactly where the Trump administration has stood
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People, commentators have said that if the US had put a red light on Operation Rising Line, if it had actually said, no, you can't do this, that Netanyahu would have listened, which suggests that the United States had a more laissez-faire attitude
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I mean, I just don't see any evidence to support that view. I mean, the relationship between Donald Trump and Prime Minister Netanyahu is not simple
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It has been complicated. And there is evidence to suggest that in the past, Prime Minister Netanyahu has acted when the Washington administration has urged him not to, that any suggestion that, you know, calmer heads should prevail in Israel have been ignored by Prime Minister Netanyahu
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Netanyahu who thinks that the Americans are flat wrong to imagine that they can negotiate
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their way out of Iran's determination to develop a nuclear weapon. And so one of the big questions
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now is how much damage has Israel actually done to Iran's nuclear facilities
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Simon Marks, thank you
