Trump updated Netanyahu on the US’ ‘moves in Gulf’: Israeli PM’s office

JERUSALEM - US President Donald Trump briefed Benjamin Netanyahu on July 9 about the United States’ operations in the Gulf, the Israeli Prime Minister’s office said, after Iran reported fresh American strikes.

“As part of the continuous contact” between the two, “President Trump updated the Prime Minister on American moves in the Gulf,” Netanyahu’s office said in a message on X.

A US official confirmed the call occurred without providing further details.

The Israeli leader also voiced concern to the White House about Turkey, accusing “Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and his people” of making statements “against the existence of the State of Israel, as well as the need for security zones along Israel’s borders,” according to the post on X.

On July 7, Erdogan rejected as “disinformation” Israel’s claim that the sale to Ankara of US F-35 fighter jets and components would upset the regional power balance.

On July 6, Netanyahu urged the United States not to sell the jets to NATO ally Turkey.

Tensions have mounted between Trump and Netanyahu over the handling of the war with Iran, which has costed the US president politically with prices of oil and consumer goods surging during the conflict.

Also on July 9, The Wall Street Journal reported, based on anonymous sources, that Israel also told the US that its intelligence services had detected a new Iranian plot to kill Trump.

Iran has openly vowed to retaliate against Trump since his first term, when the US assassinated Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps general Qassem Suleimani.

Tehran’s calls for retaliation have only sharpened since the US-Israel joint attacks that began on Feb 28, killing Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. AFP