What Netanyahu and Israel want out of the war with Iran

Summary

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Consider This from NPR (June 9, 2026)

What Netanyahu and Israel Want Out of the War with Iran

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Overview

This episode unpacks the diverging goals between Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and U.S. President Donald Trump as they navigate the ongoing war with Iran. Host Mary Louise Kelly joins with Daniel Shapiro, former U.S. ambassador to Israel, to examine the politics, public sentiment, and military strategy underpinning each leader’s approach. The conversation delves into how electoral pressures, personal relationships, and internal controversies are shaping the way forward for both countries.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Conflicting Endgames: U.S. vs. Israel

• Trump seeks quick resolution:
  Early in the episode, Trump claims both Israel and Iran have agreed to stop attacking and predicts a peace deal in “two or three days” ([00:16–00:36]).
• Netanyahu presses for prolonged war:
  Israel continues military action against Hezbollah and Iranian interests, resisting calls for an immediate ceasefire. Netanyahu issues a video statement:

  “Our battle against Iran and Hezbollah is still not finished. In the last 24 hours, they tried to impose a new equation upon us, and it is an equation I find intolerable and unacceptable.” — Benjamin Netanyahu ([01:11])

2. Strategic Objectives

• Israeli goals are maximalist:
  • Shapiro explains Israel wants to fundamentally weaken or “bring down the regime” in Iran, devastate its nuclear program, and neutralize the ballistic missile threat.
  • For Israel, a return to status quo is unacceptable; it seeks more permanent security ([04:03–04:44]).
• U.S. focus is economic stability:
  • The U.S. aims primarily to reopen the Strait of Hormuz and stop global economic fallout, particularly skyrocketing gas prices, which have direct domestic political consequences for Trump ([04:44–04:56]).

3. Shifting Political Leverage

• Trump’s dominance in the relationship:

  “Certainly, President Trump has the upper hand here. Prime Minister Netanyahu has portrayed himself to the Israeli people as Donald Trump's best friend, right hand... But he can't really go against him... If he were to be belittled... that’s very damaging for him politically.” — Daniel Shapiro ([05:25])

• Netanyahu’s diminished maneuvering space:
  • During Democratic presidencies, Netanyahu could leverage U.S. political divides; now, with Trump’s dominance in the GOP, there is “nowhere to go in Washington” ([06:27]).

4. Election Cycle Pressures

• US:
  Trump wants the unpopular war ended before midterms, reducing electoral risk ([07:12]).
• Israel:
  Public expects elimination—not management—of threats from Hamas, Hezbollah, and Iran. Any perception that Netanyahu hasn’t delivered security (amid corruption charges and controversy over military draft exemptions for ultra-orthodox allies) undermines his electoral standing ([07:31–10:14]).

5. Hezbollah as a Link Between Fronts

• Lebanon as the theater for escalation:
  • Attacks against Hezbollah, and IRGC (Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps) responses, fuel a cycle where both Iran and Israel use Lebanon to shape terms of ceasefire and escalation ([08:25–09:55]).
  • Iran’s stance: Ceasefire with Israel only if attacks on Hezbollah stop.
  • Netanyahu escalates, triggering further Iranian retaliation.

6. The Role of Domestic Israeli Politics

• Corruption charges and draft controversy:
  • Netanyahu’s ongoing corruption trial and unpopular concessions to ultra-orthodox coalition partners frustrate secular Israelis ([10:14]).
• Foreign policy as political refuge:
  • Like U.S. presidents, Israeli leaders find more room to maneuver abroad when constrained at home—but the electorate is war-weary ([11:19–11:38]):

    “Many Israelis are also exhausted by these wars... pursuit of fruitless campaigns, which are not actually advancing toward final outcomes, may in the end become as much of a burden on him as some of the other burdens...” — Daniel Shapiro

7. The Netanyahu-Trump Relationship: Real Rift or Theater?

• Part divergence, part political performance:

  “There’s some of both… there’s a divergence of interest… but there’s also a little bit of a good cop, bad cop game that the two of them have played… That notion that [Netanyahu] was Donald Trump’s best friend and essentially equal partner... has been really damaged.” — Daniel Shapiro ([12:46])

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On political dynamics:

  “If he were to be belittled in some way or represented as the junior partner who takes orders from President Trump... that’s very damaging for him politically.”
  — Daniel Shapiro ([05:25])

• On Israeli public exhaustion:

  “Broader look at Israeli society shows a society really exhausted and needing a break... pursuit of fruitless campaigns... may in the end become as much of a burden on him as... draft issue and around corruption.”
  — Daniel Shapiro ([11:38])

• On the Trump-Netanyahu relationship:

  “That notion that Prime Minister Netanyahu wanted to present going into this election... that he was Donald Trump’s best friend... has been really damaged.”
  — Daniel Shapiro ([12:46])

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Important Timestamps

• 00:16 – Trump predicts imminent peace deal
• 01:11 – Netanyahu’s video: no end yet; “intolerable equation”
• 03:36 – Daniel Shapiro joins
• 04:03 – Shapiro: Israel seeks regime and military change in Iran
• 05:25 – Trump holds leverage over Netanyahu
• 06:27 – Netanyahu’s diminished political maneuvering
• 07:31 – Shapiro unpacks Israeli public expectations and electoral pressures
• 09:55 – Netanyahu’s corruption charges and political calculation
• 11:38 – Israeli exhaustion and political risks for Netanyahu
• 12:46 – Nature of Trump-Netanyahu rift

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Episode Contributors

• Host: Mary Louise Kelly
• Guest: Daniel Shapiro (Former U.S. Ambassador to Israel, Atlantic Council Fellow)

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This episode gives a concise, nuanced account of the divergent war aims shaping U.S.-Israel relations at a pivotal moment—with as much focus on domestic politics as military calculus.

Transcript

[A]

It's consider this where every day we go deep on one big news story. Today, what Israel wants out of the war with Iran.

[B]

Now they've called it quits, so they're gonna just leave each other alone for another week or something.

[A]

As he was about to get onto a plane early Tuesday morning, President Trump said that Israel and Iran had both agreed, thanks to his pressure to stop attacking each other. And he said a deal to end the war was maybe only two or three days.

[B]

We're in the final throes of what will be a very, very good deal.

[A]

There is no evidence that a deal is close. And in fact, hours later, Israel's military struck sites across southern Lebanon where it has been fighting the Iran backed militia Hezbollah. One of Iran's demands in a peace deal is the end of hostilities between Israel and Hezbollah.

[C]

Over the weekend, Israel fired missiles at

[A]

Iran because Iran fired missiles at Israel because Israel had fired at Hezbollah. Targets near because Hezbollah had fired on northern Israel.

[C]

You get the picture?

[A]

That is Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaking Monday in a video statement and saying, our battle against Iran and Hezbollah is still not finished. In the last 24 hours, they tried to impose a new equation upon us, and it is an equation I find intolerable and unacceptable. Consider this, Trump and Netanyahu started the war with Iran together today. Trump wants a speedy end to that war. Netanyahu does not appear to agree. From npr, I'm Mary Louise Kelly.

[D]

Support for NPR and the following message come from Washington Wise. Decisions made in Washington can affect your portfolio every day. Washington Wise from Charles Schwab is an original podcast that unpacks the stories making news in Washington. [e-mail] Washingtonwise this message comes from NPR sponsor Carvana. Carvana believes selling your car should be refreshingly simple. Enter your license plate or vin, get a real offer down to the penny and schedule a pickup on your time. No surprises. Sell your car [e-mail] pickup fees may apply at NPR.

[E]

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[A]

It's Consider this from npr. President Trump has claimed he doesn't care about the midterm elections with respect to how the war with Iran will impact Republicans running for office. But the war is not popular in the US Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu also faces elections this fall. And the Israeli public is pressing for military defeat of Iran and its allies, including Hezbollah. We're going to hear now someone with deep experience navigating U.S. israel relations, Daniel Shapiro. He was U.S. ambassador to Israel in

[C]

the Obama administration, and he is here with me in the studio today. Welcome, Ambassador.

[F]

Thanks. Good to be with you.

[C]

So President Trump's top priority seems to be ending the war. He just this morning said a peace deal is two or three days away. It's not clear exactly what he's basing that on, but that's what he says.

[A]

Does Israel share that goal, ending the

[C]

war and ending it fast?

[F]

The Israeli preference would be to continue the war.

[E]

Why?

[F]

They would like to see Iran essentially defeated in a more lasting way. The war started with the target really, of bringing down the regime, at least from the Israeli perspective, certainly doing devastating damage to the nuclear program so that it could not be reconstituted in any significant way and wiping out a ballistic missile threat that had really emerged as a very significant strategic problem for Israel. In the end, once Iran closed the Strait of Hormuz, that became the primary strategic objective for the United States because it was causing global economic chaos, driving gas prices up at home, creating political problems for President Trump. So that's a divergence between US And Israeli interests, which you can see playing out now in the way the prime minister talks about what he wants to achieve. Tried to do some additional strikes just over the weekend, and President Trump's desire to wind this down.

[C]

So what you're saying is the US Or President Trump, to be more specific, President Trump would like to end the war, reopen the Strait of Hormuz. Let's get a peace deal. Let's get it done. Israel wants something bigger, more permanent.

[A]

If those two goals have now diverged,

[C]

does the US hold more leverage here in terms of how and when this war ends? I'm thinking of another thing President Trump just said recently about Netanyahu, and I'm

[A]

quoting, he'll do whatever I want him to do.

[F]

Certainly, President Trump has the upper hand here. Prime Minister Netanyahu has portrayed himself to the Israeli people as Donald Trump's best friend, right hand, and them as a duo who together are making decisions on the Middle East's future. Now that that divergence has opened up, it's very difficult for the prime minister to present himself still as deeply aligned with the president. But he can't really go against him. He has so fused his political identity with his relationship with President Trump, and he's now heading into a very challenging election, that if he were to be belittled in some way or represented as the junior partner who takes orders from President Trump, essentially compromising Israel's ability to make sovereign decisions in its own security because President Trump says no, that's very damaging for him politically.

[A]

As a longtime watcher of Benjamin Netanyahu, how surprising have these last few days

[C]

been to you in terms of watching Israel's prime minister being, to use your word, belittled by the President of the United States?

[F]

Prime Minister Netanyahu would not have responded the same way during the Obama presidency when I was the ambassador. He would not have responded the same way during President Biden's administration either. He, at that time may have felt he had leverage, both in his own domestic politics, to be in a fight with those presidents who was easier to criticize as somehow falling short on their commitment to Israel's security. He also might have had leverage in Washington, where he could have gone to Republicans to criticize a Democratic president. Now he has nowhere to go in Washington. No Republicans are going to go against President Trump. We know that. And Democrats want the war to end. And at home, he therefore doesn't have the same leverage to position himself in opposition to an American president. It would actually do damage to him.

[C]

So I want to stay with elections. Both countries have elections coming up this fall. President Trump, as we mentioned, would like to bring this unpopular war, unpopular here in the US To a close, and he would ideally like to do it before the midterms. It sounds like it's different in Israel. Why?

[F]

Israelis, since October 7, when Hamas attacked from Gaza, have adopted a security doctrine that says threats that could present themselves in that deadly away must be eliminated. They can't simply be tolerated over the border. So they've, of course, conducted the war in Gaza ferociously. They've also conducted a war in Lebanon against Hezbollah, which has attacked across Israel's northern border and had several rounds and exchan Iran. And the idea is that those threats need to actually be eliminated, not just managed. So going into an election when it's clear that on none of those fronts have the threats been eliminated, that's a very frustrating place for Israelis to find themselves. And certainly cuts against Prime Minister Netanyahu's presentation of himself to the Israeli public as the one leader who can manage Israel, one who can keep you safe. That's right.

[A]

Help us understand, because it is so

[C]

complicated, the way that the Two fronts are intertwined, by which I mean the Iran war launched together by the US And Israel and Israel's fight in Lebanon. They're separate, but they're deeply related. How much of Netanyahu's calculus in terms of continuing the fight in Lebanon has to do with he doesn't really want the war to end in Iran, at least not on the terms that President Trump might be willing to end it.

[F]

In fairness, Hezbollah, which really is a proxy of Iran and pursuing Iran's interest, not Lebanon's interest, in fact, the Lebanese government has declared itself against what Hezbollah is doing. Hezbollah has continued to attack Israel, and so any Israeli leader would feel they'd have to respond. And it is true that Iran has tried to link these two and say that it will only agree to a ceasefire if it knows that Israel has stopped its campaign against Hezbollah. But it works the other way as well. If Netanyahu continues the fight, and this happened earlier in the week when he decided to strike in the Beirut suburbs that Hezbo as a stronghold, Iran decided that was a red line for them. They launched missiles against Israel that led to the exchange back and forth, which since President Trump had to sort of blow the whistle and shut down. So for both Iran and for Israel, Lebanon becomes a theater which is actually linked and can keep this war going or will have to be embedded into the ceasefire that ends the war altogether.

[C]

One other factor to mention here is that Netanyahu has corruption charges hanging over him. These are charges that go back years, back to 2020. Allegations of bribery, of fraud, and so forth. Explain how those charges may be factoring into his political calculations.

[F]

Listeners may be surprised to understand that the war might not be the number one issue on many Israeli voters minds. You mentioned the corruption charges that have been part of a trial that has been going on for years. Also very controversial is that Netanyahu seems prepared to provide a blanket and permanent exemption military service to a portion of his coalition, the ultra orthodox parties, whose men, instead of serving in the military, prefer to spend their time in religious studies. Very unpopular with the rest of Israeli society that has been serving for hundreds of days during the course of this war and that thinks the burden should be shared equally. So many Israelis are angry at Netanyahu for those two things. And what he may think is that the way he holds on to right wing voters who are unhappy with his giving away of this draft exemption, who are unhappy with his corruption, but still concerned about Israel's security and addressing the threats, and so maybe he can hold on to those swing voters, potential swing voters, by continuing the fight against these hated enemies.

[A]

I mean, it sounds like what you're

[C]

saying is that what holds true in US Politics is also true in many other countries, including Israel. When a leader, when a president finds himself constrained by courts, Congress here in the US he has more leeway on foreign policy. The same is true in Israel. It sounds like, of Prime Minister Netanyahu.

[F]

It's true, although it doesn't cut cleanly. Many Israelis are also exhausted by these wars and are perhaps coming to the reluctant conclusion that there isn't going to be a definitive outcome and these enemies aren't going to be just defeated completely. And again, they'll have to return to a. A policy of having to manage those threats. So while it's true that that inclination perhaps pushes him to try to continue the war, it may serve his politics in the short term. Broader look at Israeli society shows a society really exhausted and needing a break. And I actually think in the end, his pursuit of fruitless campaigns, which are not actually advancing toward final outcomes, may in the end become as much of a burden on him as some of the other burdens he's carrying around the military draft issue and around corruption.

[A]

So what is the relationship between these two men now, Benjamin Netanyahu and Donald Trump?

[C]

How much of what we perceive from here as what looks like a rift is political theater versus real disagreement?

[F]

There's some of both. It's clear. There's a divergence of interest. That's absolutely clear. There's also a little bit of a good cop, bad cop game that the two of them have played. They talk very, very frequently. And so it's certainly possible to have disagreements but continue to be partners. We've seen that before. But that notion that Prime Minister Netanyahu wanted to present going into this election to the Israeli public is that he was Donald Trump's best friend and essentially equal partner in reshaping the Middle East. That has been really damaged. And at the moment when Donald Trump says, we are stopping and when it's very clear that he's doing that over Netanyahu's objection and essentially giving instructions, and sometimes in a belittling way, as Trump is capable of, that really is damaging to Netanyahu's public presentation.

[C]

That is former U.S. ambassador to Israel, Daniel Shapiro. He's now an Atlantic Council fellow. Thanks for coming in.

[F]

Thank you.

[A]

This episode was produced by Erica Ryan and Alejandra Marquez Hanse, with audio engineering by Hannah Glovna. It was edited by Patrick Jaranwadanan. Our interim executive producer is Courtney Dorning. It's consider this from npr.

[C]

I'm Mary Louise Kelly.