What Netanyahu and Israel want out of the war with Iran
6/9/202613 min
The war with Iran is not popular in the U.S., and President Trump has been trying to negotiate a deal to resolve it.
In comparison, the Israeli public is pressing for military defeat of Iran and its allies, such as the militia Hezbollah in Lebanon. And Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is facing a parliamentary election this fall which could unseat him from power.
So the war that Trump and Netanyahu launched together now sees the two leaders at odds on its potential end.
Daniel Shapiro, a former U.S. ambassador to Israel, explains the political calculus for Netanyahu right now.
For sponsor-free episodes of Consider This, sign up for Consider This+ via Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org.
Email us at considerthis@npr.org.
This episode was produced by Erika Ryan and Alejandra Marquez Janse, with audio engineering by Hannah Gluvna. It was edited by Patrick Jarenwattananon. Our interim executive producer is Courtney Dorning.
See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences.
Clips
Transcript preview
First 90 secondsMary Louise Kelly· Host0:01
It's Consider This, where every day we go deep on one big news story. Today, what Israel wants out of the war with Iran.
Donald Trump· Soundbite0:09
Now they've called it quits, so they're gonna just leave each other alone for another week or something.
Mary Louise Kelly· Host0:16
As he was about to get onto a plane early Tuesday morning, President Trump said that Israel and Iran had both agreed, thanks to his pressure, to stop attacking each other, and he said a deal to end the war was maybe only two or three days away.
Donald Trump· Soundbite0:32
We're in the final throes of what will be a very, very good deal.
Mary Louise Kelly· Host0:36
There is no evidence that a deal is close, and in fact, hours later, Israel's military struck sites across southern Lebanon, where it has been fighting the Iran-backed militia Hezbollah. One of Iran's demands in a peace deal is the end of hostilities between Israel and Hezbollah. Over the weekend, Israel fired missiles at Iran because Iran fired missiles at Israel because Israel had fired at Hezbollah targets near Beirut because Hezbollah had fired on northern Israel. You get the picture. [speaking foreign language] That is Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaking Monday in a video statement and saying, "Our battle against Iran and Hezbollah is still not finished. In the last 24 hours, they tried to impose a new equation upon us, and it is an equation I find intolerable