Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu presented US President Donald Trump with a plan for a war with Iran during his trip to the US in mid-February, according to a New York Times report on Tuesday, which laid bare many previously unknown details about the fateful meeting.
The war, which was brought to a tentative end with a ceasefire agreement on Tuesday, was launched on February 28 by Trump and Netanyahu, who said they aimed to curb Iran's regional power, dismantle its nuclear program, and create conditions for Iranians to topple their rulers.
The meeting was attended virtually by Mossad director David Barnea, as well as several Israeli military leaders, according to the NYT. Physically seated in the situation room with Netanyahu were Trump, White House chief of staff Susan Wiles, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, Gen. Dan Caine, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, CIA director John Ratcliffe, special envoy Steve Witkoff, and Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner.
Netanyahu made a "hard sell" for attacking Iran, the NYT report claimed, adding that he pitched a number of options for a new Iranian leader who would take over when the current regime fell, including Iranian Crown Prince Reza Pahlavi.
He also told Trump and the US officials that Iran's ballistic missile program could be destroyed within a few weeks, during which time the Iranian regime would be so weak that it would not be able to block traffic through the Strait of Hormuz, the NYT report claimed.
As of April 8, the status of the Strait of Hormuz is unclear after Iranian media outlets reported conflicting accounts on whether oil tankers were being allowed to transit the waterway.
According to Iranian state-owned Press TV, the strait has been fully closed, and all tankers attempting to pass through have been turned around.
Earlier on Wednesday, IRGC-tied outlet Fars News reported that Iran had once again closed the Strait of Hormuz, blocking oil tankers from transiting the waterway, in retaliation for Israeli strikes on Hezbollah.
Iranian strikes on US interests in Gulf nations
Netanyahu also noted that the "likelihood that Iran would land blows against US interests in neighboring countries was assessed as minimal," according to the report.
Throughout the course of the conflict between US-Israeli forces and the Iranian regime, US interests in Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Qatar, Bahrain, and Kuwait have all been heavily targeted by Iranian strikes, killing a total of 13 US military service members.
The NYT reported that Trump and his advisers responded very positively to Netanyahu's proposal, with Trump saying, "Sounds good to me."
US officials weigh Netanyahu's proposal
The following day, the American officials and Trump had a private meeting, without Netanyahu and the Israeli team, to discuss the results of the US intelligence analysis of a possible war with Iran. They broke down the Israeli prime minister's proposal into four parts: Killing the ayatollah, decimating Iran's ability to threaten its neighbors, a popular uprising in Iran, and finally, regime change with a secular leader being installed to govern the country.
US officials, according to the New York Times, deemed the first two objectives to be reasonable, but the third and fourth were "detached from reality." The CIA director reportedly described Netanyahu's regime change plans as "farcical," and Rubio echoed his sentiments, saying, "In other words, it's bull****."
Trump was most interested in accomplishing the first two parts of Netanyahu's plan - killing Ali Khamenei and diminishing Iran's military capabilities. Regime change would be "their problem," Trump said, per the NYT.
Netanyahu claims Israel was not surprised at last second with Trump's ceasefire, Trump maintains 'regime change' goal
Netanyahu said that Israel was not surprised at the last minute by Trump's ceasefire with Iran during a Wednesday press conference.
"The temporary ceasefire came in coordination with Israel; the Americans did not surprise us at the last minute," said Netanyahu.
Netanyahu noted that Israel still has more goals to achieve, including the issue of Iran's enriched uranium, which the Prime Minister stated would either be accomplished through diplomacy or through force.
"This is not the end of the war," said Netanyahu, "but a stop on the way to achieving all the goals."
Trump, for his part, said that the US will work with Iran to establish a "very productive regime change," during upcoming ceasefire talks, in a Wednesday Truth Social post.
He added that the talks will focus on tariff and sanctions relief and claimed that many of America's 15 points were already agreed upon.
Tobias Seigal and Tobias Holcman contributed to this report.