REPORT: President Trump Stopped Israel From Bombing Iranian Nuclear Sites

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Wow…

According to a bombshell (pun intended) report from The New York Times, President Trump blocked a planned Israeli airstrike on Iranian nuclear sites.

Israel had reportedly planned on bombing Iran’s nuclear sites in May, but President Trump stepped in to call it off in favor of diplomatic negotiations.

The report claims President Trump told Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu during their meeting at the White House earlier this month that he would not support an attack on Iran’s nuclear sites. Instead, the U.S. would negotiate with Iran to limit their nuclear program.

If this report is true, then President Trump very well may have just prevented things from escalating to World War 3.

Here are the details of the report:

From The New York Times:

Israel had planned to strike Iranian nuclear sites as soon as next month but was waved off by President Trump in recent weeks in favor of negotiating a deal with Tehran to limit its nuclear program, according to administration officials and others briefed on the discussions.

Mr. Trump made his decision after months of internal debate over whether to pursue diplomacy or support Israel in seeking to set back Iran’s ability to build a bomb, at a time when Iran has been weakened militarily and economically.

The debate highlighted fault lines between historically hawkish American cabinet officials and other aides more skeptical that a military assault on Iran could destroy the country’s nuclear ambitions and avoid a larger war. It resulted in a rough consensus, for now, against military action, with Iran signaling a willingness to negotiate.

Israeli officials had recently developed plans to attack Iranian nuclear sites in May. They were prepared to carry them out, and at times were optimistic that the United States would sign off. The goal of the proposals, according to officials briefed on them, was to set back Tehran’s ability to develop a nuclear weapon by a year or more.

Almost all of the plans would have required U.S. help not just to defend Israel from Iranian retaliation, but also to ensure that an Israeli attack was successful, making the United States a central part of the attack itself.

For now, Mr. Trump has chosen diplomacy over military action. In his first term, he tore up the Iran nuclear deal negotiated by the Obama administration. But in his second term, eager to avoid being sucked into another war in the Middle East, he has opened negotiations with Tehran, giving it a deadline of just a few months to negotiate a deal over its nuclear program.

The Times of Israel added:

According to the newspaper, Trump informed Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of his decision to not support such an attack amid the negotiations with Iran when the premier visited the White House earlier this month. During their meeting, Trump announced the United States would begin negotiations with Iran on a deal to prevent it from developing nuclear weapons.

The report says Trump decided not to back the Israeli attack plans, which would have required US military support to carry out, due to internal disagreements in the administration. It adds that Netanyahu was pushing for the attack to take place as soon as next month.



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