According to a source speaking with The Jerusalem Post, President Donald Trump informed Israeli President Benjamin Netanyahu days before the attack on Iran that he had made a decision to strike the Islamic Republic’s Fordow nuclear site. In the following days, Tel Aviv convinced the White House to expand the attack to other nuclear facilities. 

“Four days ago, there was a phone call between Netanyahu and the US president, during which Trump said, ‘I’ve decided to launch a strike,’” an Israeli official told The Jerusalem Post. While Trump’s plan initially just called for bombing Fordow, Israeli officials pressed Trump to expand the operations. 

The Jerusalem Post reports speaking with a source who explained, “Netanyahu and [Strategic Affairs Minister Ron] Dermer managed to convince [Trump] to also target the Isfahan facility and the enrichment site in Natanz — both of which Israel had already attacked in the past week – ‘In order to finish the job.

Since Trump has returned to the White House, Tel Aviv has increased its influence in Washington. In the lead-up to the American strike on Iran, President Trump appeared to believe an intelligence assessment of Iran’s nuclear program over the conclusion from his intelligence chief, Tulsi Gabbard. 

Israeli officials additionally told the Jerusalem Post that Saturday night’s attack was carried out in full coordination between Tel Aviv and Washington, and the US strikes relied on Israeli intelligence. 

While Trump and his top officials are presenting the strike on Iran as a one-off attack, Israel’s military chief warned his country on Friday that there could be a protracted conflict in the Middle East. “We have embarked on the most complex campaign in our history to remove a threat of such magnitude, against such an enemy. We must be ready for a prolonged campaign,” Eyal Zamir said.