Reports said that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and other senior Israeli officials also had no idea at the time about U.S. President Donald Trump's abrupt cancellation of an airstrike on Iran on the 1st (local time).
On the 2nd, Israel's Channel 12 said senior Israeli officials first learned of the cancellation through Trump's social media, conveying one senior official's remark, "It even felt as if we had been abandoned."
According to the report, the United States and Israel began drawing up plans for an attack on Iran on the 29th of last month, the day after the two countries' leaders met. U.S. Central Command, which oversees the Middle East, prepared a plan targeting Iran's energy infrastructure, and Israel was also set to take part in the operation.
However, about 24 hours before the operation was to begin, Trump abruptly called it off, and Israel was reportedly not informed of the decision in advance at all. It is said that, immediately after hearing Trump's announcement canceling the strike, Israel initially took it as a kind of deception tactic to reassure Iran.
A senior Israeli official said, "For hours we were in extreme uncertainty. President Trump left us in the fog, and senior generals had no choice but to grasp the situation through his social media."
Another senior Israeli official said, "We poured all our resources into one operational area, only to realize in the end that we maintained the highest state of alert for no reason at all, which is frustrating. We simply cannot understand what the president's final intent is."
Still, Israel believes Trump could reverse his decision at any time. Accordingly, the Israel Defense Forces are still maintaining the highest state of alert, the broadcaster said.