Jake Sullivan Archives - CrossFireArarbia

US Loses Trust in Israel Over Iran

CrossFireArabia
October 9, 2024

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 according to Anadolu.

“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.

Skeptical

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 as reported by the Turkish news agency.

News

No Ceasefire Deal Before Biden Leaves Office!

CrossFireArabia
September 20, 2024

Senior U.S. officials have privately acknowledged they don’t expect a Gaza ceasefire agreement to be reached before the end of President Biden’s term in January 2025, the Wall Street Journal reported on Thursday.

The newspaper cited top-level officials in the White House, State Department and Pentagon without naming them according to the Quds News Network.

“No deal is imminent,” one of the U.S. officials said. “I’m not sure it ever gets done.”

Senior U.S. officials have privately acknowledged they don’t expect a Gaza ceasefire agreement to be reached before the end of President Biden’s term in January, the Wall Street Journal reported on Thursday.

More details: https://t.co/q0oGuzLHIt pic.twitter.com/SK7O334NS4
— Quds News Network (@QudsNen) September 20, 2024

Officials cited two main reasons for the pessimism.

The two obstacles that have been especially difficult: Israel’s demand to keep forces in the Philadelphi Corridor between Gaza and Egypt and the specifics of an exchange deal of Israeli captives for Palestinian prisoners held by Israel.

As a result, the mood inside the administration and in the Middle East is as gloomy as it has been in months, the newspaper said.

National security adviser Jake Sullivan met Wednesday with the relatives of the remaining seven American captives held in Gaza, telling them that securing their release was a top priority for Biden. But a statement from the families said they “expressed frustration with the lack of tangible progress” to Sullivan, urging the administration to make a deal as soon as possible.

John Kirby, the National Security Council spokesman, told reporters Wednesday the prospects of a completed deal were “daunting,” and though the administration signaled for months that a deal was near, said, “we aren’t any closer to that now than we were even a week ago.”

One of the officials said “it would be irresponsible” for the administration to give up seeking an agreement that brings at least temporary relief to the region. But the official also signaled frustration with the Israelis and Hamas.

“As we’ve said from the outset, it is going to require leadership and compromise,” the official said, “and we urge all sides to demonstrate it.”

“I can tell you that we do not believe that deal is falling apart,” Pentagon spokesperson Sabrina Singh told reporters on Thursday before the report was published.

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said two weeks ago that 90% of a ceasefire deal had been agreed upon.

The United States and mediators Qatar and Egypt have for months attempted to secure a ceasefire but have failed to bring Israel and Hamas to a final agreement.