Trump and Netanyahu went to war together.  Are they still on the same page?

0:00Hey, it's Juana. Before we get to today's episode, we wanted to ask you to do us a favor. We want to know what you think about Consider This, what interests you, what you like, and what you don't. What keeps you listening? That's why we're hoping you'll take a couple of minutes to fill out the NPR News Podcast Listener Survey. You can find it at npr.org slash springsurvey. And don't be shy. We want to hear from everyone, even our new listeners and those who might not have taken one of our surveys before. Okay, on to today's episode.

0:35At the start of the war in Iran, the United States and Israel seem to be a united front. Both countries had similar goals. Take down Iran's ballistic missile capabilities, target Iran's armed proxies, and end Iran's nuclear ambitions. Here's Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth on March 4th. Only the United States of America could lead this. Only us. But when you add the Israeli defense forces, a devastatingly capable force, the combination is sheer destruction for our radical Islamist Iranian adversaries. In that same briefing, General Dan Cain was asked about two different operations, Israel's Roaring Lion and the United States' Epic Fury.

1:17You have two parallel operations, Epic Fury and Roaring Lion. How are you making sure they're not interfering with each other? Sir, I'm happy to take that. Thank you for the question. We have liaison officers on both sides. Routinely, Admiral Cooper is talking to the IDF chief of defense, and I will occasionally speak to him through the arc of this. I've spoken to him a few times already. That allows us to coordinate, integrate, and synchronize activities while maintaining separate efforts. But six weeks into the war, those efforts are now seeming to diverge. Consider this. The United States and Israel are waging a war against Iran together.

1:56But are they still on the same page on how to end it?

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2:34It's Consider This from NPR. The world has been waiting and watching to see what happens next in Iran. Today, in a rambling news conference that lasted over an hour, President Trump discussed the war with Iran and the rescue of an American airman over the weekend. CIA Director John Ratcliffe, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, and Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman General Dan Cain also spoke, but only Trump took questions. Throughout this war, President Trump has had a key ally in Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. They spoke yesterday after the rescue operation in Iran. Israel contributed intelligence toward that mission.

3:10To discuss this crucial partnership, I'm joined by NPR's White House correspondent, Franco Ordonez, and NPR International correspondent, Daniel Estrin in Tel Aviv. Hi to both of you. Hi, Juana. Hi, Juana. Franco, I want to start with you, if I can. You were in the room at that press conference. Tell us what you heard. Yeah, I mean, he gave a very detailed description of the search and rescue operation for that airman, saying that 155 aircraft were involved and that there was a lot of subterfuge to try and distract the Iranians while they were searching for the pilot. And he emphasized that no American would be left behind.

3:44But at the same time, he also doubled down on some of those dramatic threats of strikes on power plants and bridges. If Iran, as you noted, doesn't meet a deadline Tuesday that includes reopening the Strait of Hormuz. The entire country could be taken out in one night, and that night might be tomorrow night. And he told reporters repeatedly that he is not worried about being accused of war crimes. When asked specifically about hits to Iranian bridges and power plants, he said Iranians were, quote, willing to suffer that in order to have freedom. Daniel, to you, convincing the U.S. to attack Iran alongside Israel has been a long-held dream for Prime Minister Netanyahu.

4:23What does he hope this war will achieve? Well, Juana, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and President Trump's goals for this war have actually shifted throughout the war. On regime change in Iran, Israel and the U.S. both said that they were creating the conditions for Iranian civilians to topple the regime. That's what Trump and Netanyahu said at the beginning of the war. But already Netanyahu has been admitting in recent days and weeks that regime change will take time and may not happen by the end of this war. And military targets that Israel is targeting have also shifted. Israel began with a focus on degrading Iran's military capabilities.

5:07And now Israel says that it's focusing on hurting Iran's economy and bombing some of its biggest industries, its biggest money-making industries, steel and petrochemicals. And, you know, in the past, Trump actually ordered Israel to stop hitting further oil fields. Israel did that several weeks ago. But Trump's recent threat to bomb power plants in Iran as early as tomorrow evening, they seem to bring the U.S. far more in line with Israel's tactics here. Franco, is President Trump serious about these aims at the same time that he's acknowledging room for negotiation on a possible ceasefire? I mean, he says he's very serious.

5:49But at the same time, I do want to note, Juana, that he doesn't, I mean, he says he doesn't know ultimately what he's going to do, because that will depend on what Iran does. And I should also add that Trump has made similar threats to bomb the power plants before and then later postponed those strikes to allow for negotiations. And as for the ceasefire, the, you know, Trump did not give specifics, but said earlier that they are negotiating and have made a significant step. I mean, clearly Trump is looking to get out of this war. I mean, you can really see and hear that in his escalating rhetoric, the threats trying to force Iran to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, which he said today was a critical priority to ending this conflict.

6:38We have to have a deal that's acceptable to me. And part of that deal is going to be we want free traffic of oil and everything else. Daniel, if the U.S. does ramp up its strikes in Iran as President Trump is threatening by 8 p.m. tomorrow, is Israel supportive of that? Does the Israeli public support a prolonged conflict? Israel's military spokesman said that Israel actually has battle plans for the next three weeks in case we don't see a ceasefire. And in the Israeli public, there is very high support for the war, unlike in the U.S., because Israelis feel the impact of Iranian missiles raining on their cities.

7:18And many Israelis say they want Iran's capabilities degraded. But you do see slipping support for the war in opinion polls in Israel. Among Jewish Israelis at the very beginning of the war, there was over 90 % support. And now that has dropped to around 78%. And the longer this war drags on, Juana, the more Israelis talk about just feeling tired. They get woken up in the middle of the night multiple times by air raid sirens. They're running into shelters every day. And more than that, there's just very little belief that this is going to be Israel's last war with Iran. They think it will just be a matter of time before Iran rebuilds.

8:00And, you know, a majority of Israelis in a poll say that Israel and the U.S. actually misjudged Iran's strength. Iran keeps managing to fire missiles at Israel and the entire region. Franco, last thing. What about the American public? How would Americans feel about fighting a longer war if it does come to that? I mean, they're not too happy about that idea. Polling shows that Americans oppose the war in Iran, and that includes an increasing number of Republican supporters of the president. I mean, a CNN poll released last week showed that Republicans who approve of Trump's job performance dropped to 43 percent compared to 52 percent in January.

8:41And Trump seemed to acknowledge that, saying if it was up to him that he'd like more time to go and get control of the oil. But he said, and these are his words, unfortunately, the American people would like to see us come home. That's NPR's Franco Ordonez in Washington, D.C., and NPR's Daniel Estrin in Tel Aviv. Thank you. Thank you, Juana. You're welcome. Before we go, just one more reminder to take a couple of minutes to fill out the NPR News Podcast Listener Survey. You can find it at npr.org slash spring survey. There's a short list of questions. It's anonymous, and it would really help to hear from you even if you've done one of these in the past.

9:19npr.org slash spring survey. That link is also in our episode notes. And thank you. This episode is produced by Brianna Scott and Karen Zamora. It was edited by Rebecca Metzler, James Heider, Patrick Jarrett-Muatenanen, and Courtney Dorning. Our executive producer is Sammy Yenigan.

9:42It's Consider This from NPR. I'm Juana Summers.