Former U.S. Defense Secretary William Cohen suggested that when it comes to coordinating Israel’s military response to Iran, Netanyahu might withhold critical information from America because he is scared that it will lead to America leaking or sabotaging Israel’s plans.
Cohen also said that it is in Israel's best interests to maintain a good relationship with America, "To the extent that the Israelis consider the United States their best ally and at times perhaps their only ally going forward, I think they have to take care that they keep this relationship in repair.”
However, according to Axios, this lack of trust goes both ways. After Israel failed to update America about the pager attack, Nasrallah's assassination and other missions before they took place, the Biden administration doesn't trust the information they are getting from Israel either.
White House National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan told Ron Dermer on Friday that that the US expects “clarity and transparency” from Israel over its plans for their impending retaliatory attack against Iran, because an Israeli strike could impact US forces who are currently in the region. Cohen echoed these sentiments, "We have members of our military in the region by the thousands. And they are subject to attack. So we’d like to know in advance if we have to take extra precautionary measures."
Another US official said that Israel "tells us what we want to hear — the problem is lack of trust."
The Times of Israel contributed to this article.
