RESOLVING THE LEDGER
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See the full story · 4 sourcesUS President Donald Trump said Tuesday he had no need for intelligence from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Iran's Pickaxe Mountain nuclear facility, dismissing the site as "not a big problem," and saying that the Israeli leader was only going to bring it up at their meeting later in the day, because "he wants me to stay involved."
His comments came as he was set to host Netanyahu for a meeting, their first since the outbreak of the war at the end of February, and amid reports that ties between the leaders had become strained as the conflict lingered without a clear resolution.
Speaking to Fox News, Trump expressed his irritation with Netanyahu.
“I don’t need Bibi to tell me” things related to intelligence on the Pickaxe Mountain nuclear site. “Bibi's telling me that because he wants me to stay involved. We know exactly what’s going on,” Trump insisted.
The US president also vented frustration that Netanyahu ostensibly mentioned Iranian construction at the underground site publicly: “I heard Bibi announce that. I said, Why didn’t you just tell it to me? Why’d you have to announce it to the world? I know exactly what’s going on at Pickaxe,” he repeated.
“It’s not a big problem,” Trump continued. “We took out their nuclear sites, and we’ll have to take out Pickaxe if we don’t make a deal. [If] we don't make a deal, we'll take it out very easily.”
While Trump claimed Netanyahu “announced” intelligence indicating Iranian activity at Pickaxe, however, the prime minister has not spoken about the nuclear site publicly.
Some of the reports on purported Iranian activity at the site have, however, been attributed to unnamed Israeli officials.
Trump also claimed he “could take out most of their bridges in less than an hour," and all of Iran's power plants within a day. He further claimed he saved Israel by stopping Iran's nuclear program.
“If I weren't president today, Israel would not exist,” said Trump.
While the US and Israel hit multiple Iranian nuclear sites in the 12-day war last year and in the latest conflict, Pickaxe Mountain has not been hit by the US or Israel. Trump has threatened to bomb it a number of times.
Iran has not allowed the UN’s nuclear watchdog access to the Pickaxe Mountain site. International Atomic Energy Agency head Rafael Grossi said Iran in 2021 declared its “intention to have nuclear activity” there.
Pickaxe Mountain, whose peak rises to some 1,600 meters above sea level, is located 220 kilometers (140 miles) south of Tehran and 2 kilometers (1.2 miles) from the Natanz nuclear complex.
There were two enrichment plants in operation at Natanz – one above and one below ground. The UN nuclear watchdog has said the above-ground one was destroyed. The other, underground one was likely at least badly damaged.
US Vice President JD Vance, who has recently voiced criticism of Israel that bordered on the conspiratorial, will also attend the meeting between Netanyahu and Trump, the Prime Minister’s Office told The Times of Israel.
A source in Netanyahu's office sought to give a more upbeat look at the meeting, saying that Netanyahu and Trump would discuss how to "win the war" that their two countries launched on Iran on February 28 in a bid to destabilize its regime and destroy its ballistic missile and nuclear programs.
"As the prime minister enters the White House at the invitation of President Trump, few allies have met so often and few alliances have achieved more in such short a time," said the official.
"President Trump and the prime minister will discuss the defining issues of our time and how to leverage our great alliance to win the war and forge lasting peace," the official said. "Peace through strength."
In addition to discussing ongoing tensions with Iran, efforts to advance the Israel-Lebanon framework deal, as well as the Abraham Accords, would also be on the agenda during Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s imminent Oval Office meeting with US President Donald Trump, a White House official told The Times of Israel.
The US wants to see Israel carry out additional withdrawals from Lebanon — something Netanyahu is reticent to approve ahead of his upcoming October election.
Both leaders have also spoken about expanding the Abraham Accords, but that appears unlikely given due to the current Israeli government’s opposition to any concessions to the Palestinians.
Trump declared last week that a civil nuclear deal that his administration signed a day earlier with Saudi Arabia would be conditioned on Riyadh joining the Abraham Accords.
However, a source with direct knowledge of the matter told the Axios news site that the agreement being sent to Congress this week for review does not contain such a provision and Trump admitted on Monday that he hasn't even discussed the purportedly new condition with Saudi leaders.
Netanyahu took off for the US on Monday and is set to participate later Tuesday in the funeral of US Senator Lindsey Graham, the long-serving South Carolina hawk who died suddenly earlier this month at 71.
Netanyahu spoke at a memorial dinner for Graham on Monday night, and was expected to meet with other senior US officials after attending other services for the late senator, according to his office.
The comments came as Defense Minister Israel Katz revealed that US aircraft were taking off from Israel to participate in the strikes on Iran, and that Israel was keen to also bomb Iranian energy sites, but was being held back by the US.
Katz said in an interview with the pro-government Channel 14 news channel on Tuesday that the US was stopping Israel from striking Iranian energy targets.
"We very much want to strike Iran's energy targets. The United States is not approving it at the moment because of the concern that Iran would attack neighboring countries, causing a global oil crisis," he said. "As far as we're concerned, we're prepared to set [Iran] back 40 years."
Katz also said the Iranians know they were being bombed by U...
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