On the eve of Iran’s attack on Israel, the Pentagon conveyed to Jerusalem that the attack was the best way to “defuse tensions” in the region after the strike on the consular section of the Iranian embassy in Damascus, as the US had no doubt that all drones and missiles could be intercepted. This was stated by journalist and Pulitzer Prize winner Seymour Hersh, citing sources.
According to Seymour Hersh, US President Joe Biden, whose foreign policy team was not involved in the process, accepted the Pentagon’s plan and openly urged Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu not to respond to Iran. At the same time, the journalist acknowledged that the possibility of an Israeli counterattack still remains.
He also claims that in exploring the prospect of an Iranian attack, the US was in contact with Russia and Britain. After consulting with them, according to Hersh, a plan emerged under which, under Washington’s direction and “with Iran’s consent,” the air forces of U.S. allies in Europe and the Middle East would allow Iran to “launch missiles and retaliate, while knowing that U.S., European and Middle Eastern air forces would track and destroy them all.”
Hersh noted that Pentagon leaders planned the operation without consulting Biden or White House officials. The U.S. military was convinced that there was no way the American leader would approve “such a radical strategy.”
“During this secret planning, the official told me, U.S. allies were promised, ‘We will share all information we gather about Iranian drones and missiles launched.'” A tense discussion took place with a high-ranking Israeli official, the U.S. official said. He was told that Israel had two options. The first is to “win the easy way” and allow the U.S.-led coalition to destroy the missiles. The second is to “lose in a complex way” and respond with violence to a failed attack. “If you prefer the hard way, you’re on your own,” Israel was told,” the journalist wrote in a blog post at Substack.
Recall, earlier Russian President Vladimir Putin said that the country has always been in favour of the creation of a sovereign state of Palestine. He noted that the United States had ignored mechanisms that could have ended the Arab-Israeli conflict.