{"id":580763,"date":"2026-08-10T21:38:12","date_gmt":"2026-08-10T21:38:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/580763\/"},"modified":"2026-08-10T21:38:12","modified_gmt":"2026-08-10T21:38:12","slug":"israel-prefers-iran-pressure-without-war-but-officials-warn-trump-is-unpredictable","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/580763\/","title":{"rendered":"Israel prefers Iran pressure without war, but officials warn: \u2018Trump is unpredictable"},"content":{"rendered":"

In Jerusalem, the prevailing assessment is that the current situation largely serves Israel\u2019s interests: the U.S. blockade remains in place, sanctions continue to weigh heavily on Iran\u2019s economy and neither Washington nor Jerusalem appears eager to immediately resume the war.<\/p>\n

\"Iran<\/a>\"Iran<\/p>\n

Iran talks stall as Israel backs Trump\u2019s blockade strategy but worries he could change course <\/p>\n

(Photo: REUTERS\/Stringer, JOE RAEDLE\/AFP, REUTERS\/Jonathan Ernst)<\/p>\n

But officials also acknowledge a major uncertainty.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere is an element of concern because Trump is unpredictable and tends to change his mind,\u201d one senior Israeli official said.<\/p>\n

Israel has been following reports that Trump could eventually declare victory in the conflict with Iran even without a formal agreement dismantling Tehran\u2019s nuclear program, particularly if Iran agrees to reopen the Strait of Hormuz without restrictions.<\/p>\n

At the same time, Trump has continued to raise the pressure rhetorically. On Monday, he responded to Iranian demands for compensation over damage caused during the five-month conflict by saying Washington would make compensation demands of its own.<\/p>\n

Trump said Iran should pay for Americans killed or seriously wounded in attacks linked to Tehran, as well as protesters killed by the Iranian regime.<\/p>\n

He later expanded that demand, saying Iran should also bear responsibility for destruction and deaths across the region.<\/p>\n

\u201cAlso, with respect to the Iran negotiations, Iran should be responsible for the damages and death caused to the people of Lebanon, Syria, Yemen, and Gaza!\u201d Trump wrote in a follow-up Truth Social post.<\/p>\n

Despite the tougher rhetoric, Israeli officials believe Trump is reluctant to resume major military action for now.<\/p>\n

\"\u05db\u05dc\u05d9<\/a>\"\u05db\u05dc\u05d9<\/p>\n

The Strait of Hormuz <\/p>\n

(Photo: REUTERS\/Stringer)<\/p>\n

Instead, they see him returning to the strategy of economic pressure, including sanctions and the U.S. naval blockade affecting Iranian ports and oil exports.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe current situation is the best for us,\u201d one senior Israeli official said. \u201cThe blockade is being maintained and the economic pressure on Iran continues.\u201d<\/p>\n

Another Israeli official said Jerusalem and Washington do not necessarily share the same ultimate objective.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur goals are not the same,\u201d the official said. \u201cWe want to bring down the regime, and what will bring it down is the economy.\u201d<\/p>\n

According to the official, Iran\u2019s economic condition is already dire.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe situation in Iran is catastrophic. Inflation is through the roof and the rial is collapsing,\u201d he said, also pointing to political pressure surrounding President Masoud Pezeshkian and warnings of economic breakdown.<\/p>\n

The official suggested Trump may have reached a similar conclusion about Iran\u2019s vulnerability.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt could be that Trump understands that everything is about the economy, and that he wants to maintain the blockade because he understands it will eventually break them,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf Trump lifts the blockade, that would be a problem. But if he maintains the sanctions and the blockade, it suffocates them, and that is the best situation for us.\u201d<\/p>\n

At the same time, Israeli officials are careful not to appear to be pushing Washington toward another round of war.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have no interest in returning to war,\u201d the official said. \u201cThe current situation is preferable for us.\u201d<\/p>\n

The working assumption in Israel is that Trump may try to preserve the current balance at least until the U.S. midterm elections in November.<\/p>\n

Officials also believe Washington will use the pause to replenish stocks of air-defense interceptors and precision-guided munitions after heavy use during two rounds of fighting with Iran.<\/p>\n

Until then, the assessment in Jerusalem is that Trump is unlikely to deliberately collapse the current framework, but could simultaneously prepare the military option for a possible return to intensive fighting later.<\/p>\n

Trump himself has recently emphasized the economic pressure on Iran rather than imminent military escalation.<\/p>\n

In an interview with Axios on Sunday, he said the United States was \u201clowering the profile\u201d on Iran.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re negotiating with them very partially,\u201d Trump said. \u201cWe\u2019re just watching what\u2019s happening in Iran, with the tremendous inflation there and the fact that they have no money.\u201d<\/p>\n

He also said Iran\u2019s economic situation was \u201cvery bad\u201d and claimed the regime was struggling even to pay its soldiers.<\/p>\n

Trump has argued that the U.S. naval blockade has further intensified Tehran\u2019s financial crisis.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019ll work out. It always works out,\u201d he said of the confrontation with Iran. \u201cIt\u2019s like a chess game.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Wall Street Journal has also reported that Trump is showing patience toward the latest negotiating impasse, despite a series of new Iranian demands that Washington views as unacceptable.<\/p>\n

Those demands include compensation for wartime damage, an issue Trump said had never previously been raised in negotiations.<\/p>\n

\u201cI see that Representatives of the Islamic Republic of Iran are asking for compensation for the damage done to them during the last five month Military Conflict,\u201d Trump wrote on Truth Social.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut it is an interesting idea because now I am likewise demanding compensation from Iran, for all of the people that they have killed and gravely wounded.\u201d<\/p>\n

Trump said he had ordered his representatives to put those demands \u201cfirmly into any, and all, future negotiations.\u201d<\/p>\n

For Israel, however, the immediate priority appears simpler: keep Iran economically isolated, avoid giving Tehran relief and allow internal pressure to build.<\/p>\n

As one senior official put it, as long as the sanctions and blockade remain in place, \u201cit is choking them, and for us that is the best situation.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"In Jerusalem, the prevailing assessment is that the current situation largely serves Israel\u2019s interests: the U.S. blockade remains…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":531496,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[85,46,43],"class_list":["post-580763","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-israel","tag-il","tag-israel","tag-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/580763","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=580763"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/580763\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/531496"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=580763"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=580763"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=580763"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}