For the first time ever, we see a US president saying he is working with Iran to establish peace in Gaza. We read this from Haaretz:

U.S. President Donald Trump on Monday said that the U.S., Israel, Hamas and Iran are in the midst of “a massive negotiation” concerning Gaza, noting “we’ll see what’s gonna happen. We want to get the hostages back. That’s all I can tell you.”

This would appear to be the first time Trump said Iran is involved in negotiations concerning a hostage deal, adding that the two powers will continue their negotiations concerning Iran’s nuclear program on Thursday.

Meanwhile, the Israelis are discussing an attack on Iran. Also from Haaretz:

Amid difficulties in U.S.-Iran negotiations over a nuclear deal, Israel is advancing preparations for a strike in Iran, as well as preparing to defend against a possible Iranian counterattack.

Meetings on the matter have taken place between Israeli defense officials and their American counterparts. Israeli defense officials say that some politicians are exploiting the tensions over the Iranian issue for their own purposes, but add that the army continues to prepare for any decision that will be made.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and U.S. President Donald Trump spoke on Monday amid growing tension over Iran’s expected rejection of the latest American proposal in the ongoing nuclear negotiations.

Following the call, Trump said that the U.S., Israel, Hamas and Iran are in the midst of “a massive negotiation” concerning Gaza, noting “we’ll see what’s gonna happen. We want to get the hostages back. That’s all I can tell you.”

We know that Trump has said that he will not allow Israel to drag the US into a war. We also know that Trump told Netanyahu that the US prefers to make a deal with Iran as oppose to a war.

This could all be subterfuge, or it could be that there is indeed a rift between Trump and Netanyahu over this issue, since the US wants to normalize relations between Israel and the Gulf Arab states to establish a Middle Eastern alliance against Iran. Since the Gulf Arabs want the war in Gaza to end before normalizing relations with Israel, it makes sense that the Americans would want an end to the slaughter in Gaza. Obama established the Iran Deal, Trump dismantled it, and now Trump is telling the Israelis not to strike Iran and now wants to settle another deal with Iran. They should have just kept the Iran Deal. The rift between Trump and Netanyahu is a presaging sign of the incremental breakdown of US-Israeli relations. Its still possible that the Israelis and Americans could hit Iran. But the American public would object vociferously to such an action. Since US interventionism (especially wars for Israel) are extremely unpopular, if Trump decides to strike Iran, it’ll be a deadly blow on his legacy and for the Republican party. Trump is suppose to be the anti-war guy. If Israel strikes Iran without the USA, the Americans are going to tell Israel that they will not get involved in a boots-on-the-ground war with Iran. This is what the Biden administration told the Israelis after Iran hit Israel. Eventually the US will throw Israel under the bus. This is especially clear when it comes to NATO’s geopolitical focus on Turkey. Being a Black Sea nation, and controlling Russia’s access from the Black Sea into the Mediterranean, Turkey holds geo-strategic importance that trumps that of Israel. Since Turkey and Israel are in serious tensions, with the Turks speaking repeatedly about going to war with the Jewish state, if the Turks decide to war with the Israelis, will the US cut off Turkey and risk giving up control from the Black Sea into the Mediterranean? The US would give up on Israel before that happens. I discussed this in a video: