Israel Receives Indirect Updates on Negotiations and Remains Vigilant: "The Distance Between Peace and War for Donald Trump is Short"
Jerusalem is not receiving direct updates from the US regarding negotiations with Iran over the Strait of Hormuz. Despite diplomatic activity, Israel remains vigilant, citing the unpredictability of Donald Trump's decision-making.
In Israel, it is acknowledged that Jerusalem is not being updated directly by the Americans on the status of negotiations with Iran regarding control over the Strait of Hormuz. Israel receives most of the information through indirect channels, and senior officials in Jerusalem are skeptical of the latest developments that would allow the USA and Iran to return to a memorandum of understanding.
Senior Israeli officials state:
"Today is a day of world peace. The diplomatic path has returned in full force. Donald Trump wants a deal, his advisors want a deal at any cost — and the Iranians understand this."
Despite the negotiations, vigilance and readiness in Israel are maintained. The IDF maintains a dialogue with CENTCOM, but there is a clear understanding in Israel that there is significant ambiguity and impulsiveness in Donald Trump's decisions.
"The distance between peace and war for Donald Trump is the distance between the letters t, r, and u on the keyboard," said a senior Israeli official.
Earlier today, a senior Iranian official told Reuters that Iran has concluded it must harden its positions against the United States to establish leverage before beginning meaningful negotiations with President Donald Trump. This perception has led to belligerent rhetoric from Iran, the strengthening of ties with proxies, and threats to block the Bab-el-Mandeb Strait. In the evening, it was reported that an Indian vessel was damaged near Yemeni territorial waters, capsized, and sank. All 14 crew members were rescued safely by the Yemeni Coast Guard.
According to Reuters, the Iranian official clarified that the country's leadership concluded that previous attempts to show flexibility only led to increased pressure from Washington. In Tehran, they assess that Donald Trump interprets concessions as weakness. A source in the Gulf added that unless Washington accepts a new reality granting Iran a more significant role in the Strait of Hormuz, the conflict could spread beyond the Gulf region.
