The June 9 phone call between U.S. President Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu was described by Israel’s Channel 12 as a tense 40-minute affair. According to the Times of Israel, they cited sources “familiar with the phone call” reporting that Trump instructed Netanyahu to stop making statements about attacking Iran, at least while Trump is attempting to make a deal with Iran over its nuclear facilities. CNN also claimed a “source familiar with the conversation” reporting that Trump asked Netanyahu to stop talking about an attack on Iran and to halt the leaks and reports about plans and preparations for an Israeli attack on Iran’s nuclear facilities.”
Israel’s Kan station described this part of the conversation, whereby, after Trump said that a deal was in the works, Netanyahu replied that a “credible military threat” must be kept on Iran at all times. Trump then declared that any such strike must be “taken off the table for now.” Netanyahu asserted then “the negotiations with Iran are futile, Iran is playing you and all it’s trying to do is to gain time.” And Trump didn’t take the bait, replying: “Your statements about an attack on Iran aren’t helping. We’re working on a deal.”
Regarding Gaza, the Kan station, as reported by the Times of Israel, Trump instructed Netanyahu that he must permanently end the war in the Gaza Strip. While Netanyahu and his coterie have packaged their ethnic cleansing drive under a narrative that they are only pushing Washington’s “Witkoff framework,” Trump reportedly told Netanyahu that the so-called “Witkoff framework,” pausing the war for 60 days in exchange for ten hostages, would not suffice.
A key sticking point the last 10 days or so has been Hamas’ insistence that Washington do more to force Israel from a temporary ceasefire to serious negotiations over a permanent ceasefire. Hamas is concerned that Washington allowed Israel to play fast and loose with the January ceasefire, failing to get Israel to take seriously the obligation to negotiate an end to the war.
The Times of Israel added that Trump reportedly told Netanyahu, to quote the daily, “that ending the war in Gaza would help with both the administration’s ongoing nuclear negotiations with Iran and normalization talks with Saudi Arabia. Trump also ruled out an attack on Iran as the White House seeks to rein in Tehran’s nuclear program in exchange for sanctions relief.”
