Abridged from source. Source in title. [Opinion. Time to cut Israel loose. This tiny country with nuclear weapons is a danger to the world. Let them fend for themselves after 120 years of unrestrained violence.] To protect the Iran peace talks, will Trump finally restrain Netanyahu? As long as Israel continues its attacks on Lebanon, any deal between the US and Iran will be at risk Mohamad Bazzi The Guardian: 25 Jun 2026 SOURCE: https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2026/jun/25/netanyahu-trump-iran-war On 18 June, JD Vance stood in the White House press briefing room and tore into Israeli critics of the Iran deal that his boss, Donald Trump, had signed the previous day. The vice-president argued that Trump was the only world leader who was still sympathetic to Israel after nearly three years of wars and destruction across the Middle East. “If I was in the cabinet of the Israeli government,” Vance said, “I might not be attacking the only powerful ally that I have anywhere left in the entire world.” Vance also pointed out that, during the recent US-Israeli war on Iran, two-thirds of the defensive weapons used to protect Israel from Iranian retaliation “have been built by American hands and paid for by American tax dollars”. Vance publicly scolded Israel’s leaders in a way they have rarely been criticized by a high-level US politician. And while Vance did not directly target his criticism at the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, the subtext was clear: the Trump administration is willing to call out the Israeli leader for sabotaging ceasefire agreements so that he could prolong regional wars and maintain power. Over the past few weeks, Trump and several of his advisers have told reporters (or strategically leaked) that the president has had enough of Netanyahu’s obstinacy and resistance to a ceasefire with Iran. In a recent phone call, Trump reportedly called the Israeli premier “<deleted> crazy” – and the president himself later told Axios that Netanyahu “has no <deleted> judgment”. Trump and his aides played this game before, leaking their supposed displeasure with Netanyahu but not following through by withholding the US weapons that enabled Israel to continue its wars in Gaza, Lebanon and elsewhere. After the October 2023 Hamas attacks, Israel received tens of billions of dollars in US military assistance and unconditional political support. With no limits imposed, Netanyahu concluded that Israel can bomb virtually anyone in the Middle East. By the fall of 2025, Israel had unleashed a genocidal war on Gaza and also attacked Iran, Lebanon, Syria, Yemen and Qatar. Iran has made clear that the latest ceasefire must apply on all fronts, including Lebanon.
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