Israel Attacking Iran’s Energy ‘Wasn’t a Surprise’ to the Trump Administration |
Middle East and North Africa
It’s been nearly three weeks since the United States and Israel launched a joint operation against Iran, sparking a new war in the Middle East. The conflict has rapidly escalated and spread well beyond the region, while wreaking havoc on global energy markets.
The war is unpopular in the United States. The Trump administration has struggled to offer consistent justifications and objectives, and U.S. voters are facing pain at the pump as the conflict drives up gas prices. Some in the United States also feel that Israel pressured Washington into the war and that it’s not America’s fight—a perception echoed by a top Trump administration official who resigned this week in protest over the war.
It’s been nearly three weeks since the United States and Israel launched a joint operation against Iran, sparking a new war in the Middle East. The conflict has rapidly escalated and spread well beyond the region, while wreaking havoc on global energy markets.
The war is unpopular in the United States. The Trump administration has struggled to offer consistent justifications and objectives, and U.S. voters are facing pain at the pump as the conflict drives up gas prices. Some in the United States also feel that Israel pressured Washington into the war and that it’s not America’s fight—a perception echoed by a top Trump administration official who resigned this week in protest over the war.
Foreign Policy sat down with Ofir Akunis, the consul general of Israel in New York, on Wednesday to get his thoughts on the blame that some in the United States are placing on Israel, the state of the war, and the Israeli government’s goals moving forward.
Akunis, a longtime ally of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, was especially critical of the lack of support from Europe, as U.S. President Donald Trump has fluctuated between calling for help from allies to protect the Strait of Hormuz from Iran and denying that the U.S. needs any assistance.
Akunis also suggested that the United States knew that Israel would attack Iran’s energy infrastructure, such as the South Pars gas field that was struck on Wednesday, saying that “it wasn’t a surprise to the American administration that it will be part of the program, that it’ll be part of the plan.”
But that seems to contradict Trump’s statement on Wednesday night, when he wrote on Truth Social that “Israel, out of anger for what has taken place in the Middle East, has violently lashed out at a major facility known as South Pars Gas Field in Iran” and that “[t]he United States knew nothing about this particular attack.” Akunis did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Thursday.
This conversation has been edited for length and clarity.
Foreign Policy: Joe Kent, the director of the U.S. National Counterterrorism Center, resigned from the Trump administration yesterday over the war with Iran. He effectively suggested that Israel dragged the United States into the war. What’s your response to that?
Ofir Akunis: First of all, in general, it’s not my job to be in the middle of domestic issues and internal debate. But in general, I can say that everyone must ask themselves, first of all, why they [the Iranian regime] are saying, for the last 47........