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Marco Rubio played a decisive role in convincing President Donald Trump to authorize the Israeli military response against Iran, according to Israeli and American sources cited this Tuesday by the newspaper Israel Hayom.
The Secretary of State supported Israel's position during a security and diplomacy consultation held at the White House in the early hours of Monday, which changed the course of events.
The episode was triggered on Sunday when Israel attacked the Dahiyeh neighborhood in Beirut, in coordination with Washington, following deliberate rocket fire from Hezbollah targeting communities in northern Israel. Iran responded by launching missiles into Israeli territory, seeking to create a wedge between Jerusalem and Washington, and initially succeeded in doing so.
Trump made public statements—through journalists, interviews, and publications—in which he said he would call Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to ask him not to respond to the Iranian attack, and that Netanyahu would have to accept an agreement if one were signed with Iran.
The concern in Israel was immediate and profound, according to the cited source.
However, after an extensive conversation between the two leaders, Rubio took center stage in the subsequent consultation. The Secretary of State recalled his own statement: "A country that does not respond when attacked is a foolish country". That argument, combined with Netanyahu's strategy, ultimately tipped the balance.
Netanyahu convinced Trump that not responding would give an advantage to Iran and harden its positions in the nuclear negotiations with the United States. The Prime Minister also warned that Iran was trying to sabotage the peace negotiations between Israel and Lebanon, with the next round of direct talks scheduled in about two weeks.
Israel launched the attack in the early hours of Monday with the explicit consent of Trump. The targets and the duration—limited to several hours—were agreed upon in advance. The Israeli strikes were fully coordinated with the United States Central Command (CENTCOM), although the Americans did not participate directly in the strikes.
The Chief of the Israeli General Staff, Lieutenant General Eyal Zamir, had anticipated the operation with a strong statement: "We are ready to respond and are only waiting for the green light." Zamir spoke several times with Admiral Brad Cooper, commander of CENTCOM, before the operation.
In terms of defense, the information about the Iranian launches came from the Americans, but Israel conducted all the interceptions on its own. This contradicts a report published in the United States that claimed Trump had ordered not to assist Israel defensively if it were to attack.
Rubio has been, since the beginning of the conflict, the main diplomatic architect of Washington's hardline stance towards Tehran. In March, he justified the February attacks against Iran by claiming there was "an absolutely imminent threat," and later that month, he stated in Paris that the military operation would conclude in weeks.
In May, he defended Trump as the first president to take concrete action to prevent Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon, and on June 2 he threatened to destroy the Iranian navy.
After the exchange of attacks, Israel communicated to Iran that it would not retaliate if Tehran ceased fire. Iran declared the cessation of its military operations against Israel shortly thereafter, conditioning it on Israel stopping its attacks in Lebanon. Iran currently retains approximately a quarter of its original launchers and missiles, according to the same sources.
In approximately two weeks, a key meeting is scheduled between representatives of Israel and Lebanon, with a draft framework agreement on the table. Trump, who wants to add this agreement to his list of diplomatic achievements, now has an additional incentive to keep the pressure on Iran and prevent Tehran from sabotaging it.
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