Israel, Shot-caller on Iran War: Trump

“You may wage this war in our [America’s] name, but not with our consent.” – Activist/Legendary Actor Jane Fonda

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The strategic landscape of the Middle East was fundamentally altered on February 28, 2026, when the United States and Israel launched Operation Epic Fury – a massive joint military campaign against the Islamic Republic of Iran. Justified as a pre-emptive strike to prevent nuclear breakout by the Trump administration, its execution suggests a deeper shift in policy: the resurgence of Neoconservative influence, which supplanted the “America First” MAGA movement upon which President Donald J. Trump and his supporters campaigned in 2025.

Rather than this being a joint attack, Trump’s recent admission to The Times of Israel, today, that the stopping the war would be a “mutual decision” between Israel and the USA, clearly indicates that Israel was driving the war.

By omission, Trump, essentially admitted that the war was about Israel’s interests, and that the United States had not been threatened by Iran. “Iran was going to destroy Israel and everything else around it… We’ve worked together. We’ve destroyed a country that wanted to destroy Israel,” he said. What he omitted to say was that Iran was any kind of threat to the United States such that their sovereignty under international law should be violated in this violent and brutal manner.
When questioned on whether he, alone, would decide when hostilities would end, Trump told The Times of Israel: “I think it’s mutual… a little bit. We’ve been talking. I’ll make a decision at the right time, but everything’s going to be taken into account.”

Indeed, Secretary of State Marco Rubio briefing lawmakers on Capitol Hill stated: “The imminent threat was that we knew that if Iran was attacked — and we believe they would be attacked — that they would immediately come after us,” Rubio explained to the press. “We were not going to sit there and absorb a blow before we responded.”

His remarks have sparked criticism leading  to accusations of Israel of dictating US policy decision making.

“Have we now delegated the most solemn decision that can be made in our society, the decision to go to war, to another country?” Independent Maine Senator Angus King,  asked a top Pentagon official in a hearing last Tuesday. “I don’t think anybody should drive our decision to go to war but the interests of the United States.”

In the wake of such statements, it’s hard not for Americans who identify with the “America First” movement and the Republican MAGA base not to regard the current conflict as Israel’s war. They fear that Israel exercises undue influence over Trump who has received money from billionaire donors who are dual US/Israeli citizens. Even more concerning is the allegation made by the Grayzone‘s editor-in-chief, Max Blumenthal that that Israeli intelligence placed surveillance devices on Trump’s secret service emergency response vehicles. Trump, one may recall, has been the object of two assassination attempts, which many feel have never fully been investigated. Speaking on the podcast, If Americans Knew, Blumenthal said, “He [Trump] is very afraid of Netanyahu and his capabilities,” alleging that this fear preceded the assassination attempts.

Such behaviour is consistent with a report by Politico in 2019 that, “The U.S. government concluded within the past two years that Israel was most likely behind the placement of cellphone surveillance devices that were found near the White House and other sensitive locations around Washington, according to three former senior U.S. officials with knowledge of the matter.” It is alleged that the devices, called Stingrays, were strategically placed to pick up presidential communications from the White House.

The Politico article added: “But unlike most other occasions when flagrant incidents of foreign spying have been discovered on American soil, the Trump administration did not rebuke the Israeli government, and there were no consequences for Israel’s behavior, one of the former officials said”

A statement from Netanyahu’s office reported by the BBC said this was “a blatant lie”

The veracity of the claim of spying, however, are burnished by an account, which British former Prime Minister, Boris Johnson wrote in his memoir, Unleashed. He claims after asking to use his private bathroom at 10 Downing Street (the Prime Minister’s residence) a bug was found by British security services. No other people were given access to the to the facilities other than Johnson.

In excerpts reported by The Telegraph, which Johnson had once edited, Johnson recalls of Netanyahu whom he calls “Bibi” in Unleashed that: “Thither Bibi repaired for a while, and it may or may not be a coincidence but I am told that later, when they were doing a regular sweep for bugs, they found a listening device in the thunderbox.” If the Prime Minister of Israel had, indeed, bugged the toilet of the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, one would think action ought to have been taken on a diplomatic level or at least an investigation convened. However, the story seems to have died a humorous death as though it was the behaviour of  well-meaning scoundrel rather than a scandalous breach of security and trust by a British ally.

Additionally, experts have alleged that the United States has been dragged into the war nuclear blackmail on the part of Israel, which has a longstanding doctrine of first use if the state of Israel’s existence comes under threat.

The present war follows bombing of alleged nuclear enrichment sites during what’s been called the 12-Day War prosecuted in June, 2025. So, with Iran’s nuclear facilities and nuclear scientists (upwards of 20 scientists and their families were killed by Israeli strikes during the 12 Day War) taken off the board, many are left wondering on the veracity of the justification for the present conflict.

What is clear is that this war is unpopular in the United States. An early poll by Morning Consult found that just 18 percent of registered voters favored continued military operations regardless of their impact on gas prices. Recent polling taken on March 6th showed a majority of 56% of Americans as being opposed or strongly opposed to the war.

ABANDONMENT OF TRUMP’S MAGA BASE
The backlash has not come from both sides of the political aisle as well as Independents who were polled as being 61% against it. Indeed, rebukes have come from inside Trump’s own coalition: the lawmakers and media figures who helped build his political brand.
Former House Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene issued a blunt, profanity-laden admonishment of the war. On social media, she condemed the strikes as a betrayal Americans who voted for an “America First” agenda. “Fuck this war!” she penned adding: “Fuck foreign entanglements! Fuck sending our money overseas!” The repetition acutely demonstrated her anger at what she and many supporters see as a stark betrayal of the promises Trump made to his base when running for president.

Former Congressional Representative, and staunch MAGA proponent, Marjorie Taylor Greene helped get Trump elected only to be marginalized when she called him out over broken promises to the electorate. – Official House of Representatives photo

MAGA supporters expected a government focused on domestic issues like availability of housing, healthcare, and the affordability of goods – quality of life issues. They did not expect further spiralling out of any semblance of control of the national debt with the recent uptick in expenditures on foreign wars, which don’t threaten American security interests. Moreover, Trump had promised to usher in a new age of transparency with the release of the John F. Kennedy, Martin Luther King, and Robert F. Kennedy assassination files, withheld from the public for decades, not to mention, the release of all files related to the late pedophile and financial criminal, Jeffrey Epstein.

Indeed, the most watched podcaster in America, right now, Candace Owens put it best when she said that MAGA was over the moment Donald Trump made light of the Epstein file release, when questioned eight months ago by a reporter about the files reference to the possibility of Epstein being an intelligence agent. “Are people still talking about this guy?” Trump, interrupting his Attorney General Pam Bondi as she was beginning her response, quipped.

It took an Act of Congress, ratified unanimously by the Senate and signed into law by President Trump to get the FBI to release less than half of the documents in their possession. While Bondi claims that the document release is over with millions still being withheld illegally, now, from the American people, it left many constitutional experts scratching their heads, asking on whose authority, Bondi could make such a statement and take such action to close the release of documents.

The document release, revealed in a non-denial denial from the CIA that Epstein likely was affiliated to them. In addition, the FBI, in one document stated that the disgraced former financier “was a co-opted Mossad agent.” It went on alleging, ““trained as a spy” for Israel’s intelligence service. So, it seems that, the document release has been paused, not only to protect American secrets but also in the in the service of Israel – that too illegally.

NEOCONS RUNNING FOREIGN POLICY
Today, it appears that the MAGA movement has been supplanted by the very neocons who campaigned against Trump during the Republican primaries.

Throughout his 2024 campaign, Donald Trump frequently promised to end “forever wars” and criticized the interventionist policies of the “Washington establishment.” However, his second term has seen the appointment of hawks such as Secretary of State Marco Rubio and National Security Advisor Mike Waltz, figures who have long advocated for a more confrontational stance toward Tehran.

Critics argue that this shift represents a successful “capture” of Trump’s foreign policy by Neoconservative elements and pro-Israel lobbyists. These groups have effectively linked Israel’s survival to U.S. national security, framing the “maximum pressure” campaign not just as economic deterrence, but as a precursor to regime change.

Neocons like South Carolina senator Lyndsay Graham are a case in point, rejoicing at developments, calling for the United States to go further: “We’re marching through the world, we’re cleaning out the bad guys…Donald Trump is resetting the world in a way nobody could’ve dreamed of a year ago, he is the greatest commander in chief of all time, our military is the best of all time, Iran is going down, and Cuba is next,” he said to Fox News, yesterday.

Fanatical neocon, Senator Lyndsey Graham and rabid Israel supporter, was one of the neocons who opposed Trump only to co-opt him in the end. photo source- C-Span

WHAT IRANIAN EXPATS THINK

Journalist

Some Iranian exiles like prominent podcaster, Patrick Bet David (PBD) concur and support the installation of the late Shah’s son, Reza Palhavi who has not been in Iran since he was a teenager. While it is likely that Iranian ex-pat supporters of Palhavi will benefit from his installation, with deals allegedly being made by handshakes behind the scenes to enrich them once he is coronated, many Iranians, both domestic and expats, are vehemently opposed to Palhavi’s imposed ascendency, saying that the people of Iran should decide its fate.

The son of the last Shah is seen by his sponsors as a symbol of opposition to the Iranian regime, and a unifying figure who could lead a transitional government or act as a symbolic head of state for a democratic government. That said, many staunch monarchists would gladly follow him if he became Iran’s new dictator, following in his father’s footsteps.

For his part, during his exile, Pahlavi has largely called for non-violent removal of the regime in Tehran, offering his leadership as a transitional figure. However, since the January protests (the extent to which chaos was manufactured by US and Israeli intelligence is not precisely known but  widely accepted, setting fires and then attacking fire trucks, for instance – not the likely actions of organic protesters of the regime) Pahlavi has called for people to take up arms and “seize cities” in preparation for his return. He has also said he would forge an alliance with Israel. Hence, the timing of his recent promotion of violent resistance, indicates that he may be actively supported by foreign interests – and not just expat Iranians – an accusation that is not new.

Moreover, Alireza Nader, an Iran expert, argued in a recent article published in Middle East Forum that by positioning himself only alternative to the Islamic Republic, signalling that nobody else can be trusted, Pahlavi  has become a divisive figure. Critics accuse Palhavi’s  followers of attacking other prominent dissidents, such as Nobel Peace Prize winning human rights activist Narges Mohammadi, labelling them “leftists” or “terrorists.”

The hardening of Reza Pahlavi’s political stance is concerning for many as it evokes memories of his father Mohammad Reza Pahlavi’s despotic ways and the crimes of his brutal secret police, which helped spark the 1979 Revolution and spurred the Islamic Revolution, which empowered the clerics.

Misah Alinejad, is a US-based Iranian dissident and freelance journalist for Voice of America, who inspired a headscarf protest called #WHITEWEDNESDAYS in which she called for Iranian women to wear white headscarves on Wednesdays to protest the requirement to cover their heads. She has a complicated relationship with supports of Reza Pahlavi. On the one hand, she thinks he may be a unifying figure as the regime topples – a development she definitely wants to happen, calling on Trump to “finish the job” on the regime. On the other hand, her calls for democracy have provoked accusations of “disloyalty” from ardent monarchists who desire a return to absolute rule by the Pahlavis.

However, one young lady posting her opinion on X feels people like Alinejad and Pahlavi are hypocrites and cowards for not returning to Iran during this moment of crisis. Translated from Farsi, the post of Zara Halam Zad on March 2nd reads: “Are there any Iranians abroad who actually care about our lives and sanity? Why should we bear the full cost of toppling the regime while you sit back in comfort popping champagne and celebrating? Why don’t you come on over and take a share of the death toll?”

Iranian dissident, now based in New York, and freelance journalist for Voice of America, Masih Alinejad who celebrated the recent decapitation strike, which killed Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, his daughter, son-in-law, and granddaughter. Deeply traumatized by a foiled kidnapping plot hatched by agents of the Iranian regime, she urges Trump to “finish the job. However, she is not a supporter of the son of Shah Pahlavi, Reza, and has come under fire from his supporters as a result. – photo courtesy of PBS, The Firing Line

At the scene of an anti-war protest in Chicago, a man known only as Jordan explains to someone holding a microphone that he is against the clerical Iranian regime like many Americans. Elaborating that his family fled Iran in the ‘70s in the wake of the Islamic Revolution that ousted the by then despised Shah of Iran, the despotic Western puppet installed by intelligence agencies after the MI-6 and the CIA had removed the democratically elected leader, Mohammad Mosaddegh.

Jordan elaborates, “I have family in Iran; we’re impacted by this. I woke up this morning and I had to look up the school my nieces go to, is the one that was bombed [sic] – [it’s} so fucking insane!”

He expressed concern that with the extent of bombing that was being carried out in Iran, that he might get news that his family members have been killed.

By and large, Iranian expats are conflicted in their reaction. Having fled the regime that revolted against the brutality Shah Pahlavi, they have no love for the Ayatollahs whose power is greater than that of the President and Iranian Parliament. However, they lament the scale of devastation being wreaked upon their former homeland and fear for the safety and welfare of their relatives.

Yara Elmjouie, member of the Iranian diaspora and producer with AJ Plus English, from the safety of his flat in Brooklyn, New York, talks about what Iran was like and what the war is doing to the conversation between Iranians. – photo courtesy of YouTube, The Take from Al Jazeera

What’s more is that a new generation of Iranians are now developing mistrust and antipathy for the United States. The younger generation was in the process of becoming culturally Americanized due mainly to the internet and having no recollection of the brutal days of the regime of the Shah. Their experience of the current regime is one of repression and corruption – and Western-style democracy offered an alternative with greater freedoms, especially for women. This had provided an opportunity for the West to engage with the next generation to slowly rid themselves of the clerical regime – perhaps in a bloodless coup. Such potential is now lost as young people are among those massing in the streets in support of their country and in opposition to their aggressors. Hatred of America is at its highest point in decades.

It doesn’t help that Jordan’s reaction comes after the United States bombed a girls’ school killing around 175 innocent children and wounding over 100 others. Widely condemned, the United Nations has called the bombing a crime against humanity. In total 1,332 Iranian deaths have been reported at the time of writing this article with human rights groups claiming that over 1,100 have been civilians with thousands more wounded – most. By contrast seven American military servicemen were killed and thirteen Israelis have been killed.

It has turned out that the strike was from not one but two US made Tomahawk missiles in what is known in military speak as a “double tap” strike meaning after the initial strike, a follow-up strike was fired on the survivors and rescue workers. This is a signature MO of the Israeli IDF, and the Trump administration has used it on Venezuelan boats in the Caribbean.

Daniel Hilton, Head of News for Middle East Eye said that reporting from people on the ground has indicated that survivors were moved into a mosque that was located in the vicinity of the campus but that within minutes the mosque was hit, killing everyone inside. The casualties, therefore, included not only the students of the school but also those in the mosque. So, around half of the victims of the strike were young boys aged 5-12.

“Medics and parents arriving at the school described to us [MEE] arriving at the school [after the double tap strike] and just sort of finding limbs scattered everywhere, you know, unrecognizable bodies,” Hilton said, adding: “And, it has to be be said that around sixty bodies of the children who were killed still haven’t been identified because their remains were too badly damaged, too badly burned, too badly blown-up, so DNA testing is ongoing, we understand. And, parents have told us that they’ve only been able to recognize their children through bracelets that their daughter was wearing – or a school bag. So, yeah, the situation is just terrible!”

It should be noted that double tap strikes constitute a war crime as they intentionally target people who are coming into the blasted area to help rescue survivors. Not only do they wipe out the remaining survivors but they also tend to kill vital rescue workers and civilians who have come on the scene to provide humanitarian assistance to surviving victims.

Anti-war protestor asks media, “What did Iran do to justify this attack?” – photo courtesy of YouTube

Congresswoman Stephanie Bice, an Oklahoma Republican whose father is half-Iranian, posted on X: “Now is the time for Iranians to stand up and take back their nation and bring lasting peace to the Middle East.”

Sentiments like that would have been more effective before the bombing. Now, it’s unlikely that people like Bice will have any impact.

NO CONSULTATION WITH US LAWMAKERS
Bice might have mentioned that this war is illegal. Not only is Iran a sovereign country recognized by the United Nations but it also made no act of aggression or threat against the United States.
In instances such these, it behoves the President to consult Congress, which Trump failed to do – at least according to the United States Constitution. The strikes as we know, were launched without congressional authorization. Article 1 of the Constitution gives Congress, not the president, the power to declare war. Top Congressional Democrats and Republicans that make up a group known as the Gang of Eight — party leaders from both chambers, as well as the Intelligence committees’ leadership — were notified by the White House shortly before the attack.

Most Democrats and some of Republicans blasted the military operation.

“The administration has not provided Congress and the American people with critical details about the scope and immediacy of the threat,” Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., wrote in a statement. “The administration must brief Congress, including an immediate all senators classified briefing and in public testimony, to answer these vital questions.”
Furthermore, many US lawmakers thought the actions ill-thought out. “Everything I have heard from the administration before and after these strikes on Iran confirms this is a war of choice with no strategic endgame,” Rep. Jim Himes, D-Conn., the ranking member on the House Intelligence Committee, wrote in a statement.

Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., a frequent Trump critic who is deeply opposed to this kind of intervention, noted the strikes were “acts of war unauthorized by Congress.”

The Administration would argue whether the country is technically at war without a declaration of the same. However, Legal scholar and Harvard Professor, Noah Feldman, Arthur Kingsley Porter University Professor, Chair, Society of Fellows, and Founder and Director, Julis-Rabinowitz Program on Jewish and Israeli Law, wrote in an Op/Ed for Bloomberg Opinion in which he stated, “When you bomb a country and take out it’s leader, that’s an act of war.”

Harvard legal scholar, Noah Feldman says that not only is the USA at war but Presidents have found ways to ignore Congress, despite the lawmaking body’s exclusive right to declare war. – photo courtesy of Harvard Law School

Presidents have been trying to bely their constitutional restrictions for many years now. The first was Richad Nixon who bombed Cambodia in secret during the Vietnam war, vastly escalating the conflict. More recently, according to Feldman, speaking to PBS, it was Obama, who ignored Congress: “Obama decided to bomb Libya and he didn’t even bother to get authorization from Congress at all. He got an opinion from the State Department contradicting the Department of Justice that said that if you’re bombing a country from the air for a limited objective, there’s not that much risk of escalation and not much risk to US troops. So, you can just do it and it doesn’t even count as hostilities for purposes of the law. Now, that’s ridiculous! And you can see why because Donald Trump just did exactly the same thing in bombing Iran – and we’re at war … the other side’s fighting back…US troops have already been put in harm’s way and some tragically have died.”

Feldman emphasized that by passing resolutions, restricting funding, and other means, even if ineffective, over time, Congress must do these things in order to reassert its authority as a lawmaking body over the decision to go to war.

In the meantime, in places like Las Angeles, which has a large expat Iranian community and where a massive anti-war rally took place, it is left to those like 88 year old actress and activist, Jane Fonda to shout in front of a crowd of hundreds gathered at LA City Hall: “You may wage this war in our [America’s] name, but not with our consent.”

Legendary actress and activist, Jane Fonda,  at 88, continuing to speak her mind at LA City Hall in front of hundreds of anti-war protesters.