'Our trust of the Israelis is very low right now, and for a good reason,' anonymous US official tells Axios
The White House's distrust of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government has grown increasingly in recent weeks as Tel Aviv carries out multiple wars across the region, according to a report published Tuesday.
Washington's wear in trust comes as Israel prepares its response to Iran's ballistic missile attack last week. Tehran said it carried out the strikes in retaliation for the July assassination of Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran and the killing of Hezbollah Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah in Beirut last month.
Four US officials told the Axios news website that Washington is not opposed to Israel carrying out its reprisal but wants it to measure its attack.
"Our trust of the Israelis is very low right now, and for a good reason," one of the officials said.
Jake Sullivan, US President Joe Biden's national security advisor, told his Israeli counterpart Ron Dermer last week that the US expects "clarity and transparency" from Israel as it plans its response, in part because any Israeli attack has implications for the security of US forces and interests in the region.
Sullivan signaled during the call that if the Biden administration is not informed beforehand, it would not automatically step in to thwart another ballistic missile attack from Iran, Axios said. Dermer reportedly said Israel wants to keep the US in the loop, but the officials are skeptical that is the case.
The US had been left in the dark about Israel's assassination of Haniyeh, which took place just days after Netanyahu assured Biden that he would work to advance a Gaza cease-fire and hostage deal, as well as the strike that killed the Hezbollah leader and a series of explosions that targeted the militia's communication devices.
US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin was reportedly livid when he was informed of the strike that killed Nasrallah within minutes of the time when the jets dropped dozens of bombs on Beirut's southern suburbs. He was irked by the fact that the notification time was not sufficient to adequately increase the security of US forces in the region.
Officials said Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant told Austin that he was instructed by Netanyahu not to give Washington an advance warning.
Gallant's visit to the Pentagon, which was to take place Wednesday, was called off at the last minute, according to the Pentagon. It did not give a reason, but Israeli media reported that Netanyahu is barring his defense minister from flying to Washington until Biden calls him directly.
Netanyahu's further decision to walk away from a US-backed 21-day cease-fire proposal in Lebanon further eroded US trust, as has Israel's decision to order all civilians in northern Gaza to flee south as it prepares a new offensive on the region.
US officials have said they are concerned that the directive is setting the stage for a potential siege and that Palestinian civilians would not be allowed to return.
"They tell us what we want to hear — the problem is lack of trust," a US official told Axios.
