Lead
A long-form investigation by The New Yorker, cited by the Jerusalem Post, reports that Biden administration officials predicted Israel would expand its war in Gaza to strike Iran and its proxies, and that several former officials now express regret that US support enabled Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to broaden the conflict into a wider regional war.
Coverage Comparison
The Jerusalem Post's coverage draws on two articles. One focuses on the Biden administration's concerns about Israel's actions, noting that officials feared Israel would expand the war in Gaza. The other emphasizes the regret expressed by former administration officials, who believe US support "enabled" Netanyahu to broaden the war. Both articles rely on the same New Yorker investigation, quoting former officials and describing their internal deliberations.
Key Claims
According to the Jerusalem Post, citing sources from the New Yorker investigation, Biden administration officials predicted that Israel would expand the war in Gaza to strike Iran and Lebanon. The report states that during the Biden presidency, Israel launched strikes on significant parts of Iranian infrastructure and on Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps-backed groups such as Hezbollah.
Former President Joe Biden reportedly believed that any pressure the US put on Israel during the Gaza war would lead to bigger attacks from Iran, which would then require the US to step in and defend Israel, even at the risk of a larger regional war. Biden's former White House coordinator for the Middle East, Brett McGurk, argued that unwavering support for Israel would help contain Iran, warning against any "daylight" between the allies.
The report claims that despite repeated US requests to refrain from provoking Iran or its proxies, Netanyahu continued to launch strikes without notifying the administration. For instance, the Israeli government did not warn the US before carrying out several strikes on Hezbollah and Iranian officials, including the September 2024 pager attack. The report also mentions that Israel's assassination of former Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah came nearly two days after the US called for a temporary ceasefire.
The US did help defend Israel against Iranian strikes in April and October 2024, according to the report.
Former officials told the New Yorker that they now view the confrontation with Iran as a direct extension of the Gaza war. Philip Gordon, former national security adviser to Kamala Harris, told the New Yorker that Washington created a "moral hazard" through its unconditional backing of Israel, allowing Netanyahu to steadily expand the conflict. The report says the administration debated withholding military aid to Israel.
The Jerusalem Post also reports that US officials were alarmed by Israel's Gaza strategy at the start of the war. Officials were stunned by the scale of Israel's opening air campaign, and while the IDF maintained it was operating in accordance with international law, several officials questioned whether the intensity of the strikes could be reconciled with efforts to minimize civilian casualties. The New Yorker article references a New York Times report that Israel revised its rules of engagement after October 7, allowing mid-level officers to approve strikes risking up to 20 civilian deaths to eliminate a rank-and-file Hamas member—a claim that has not been independently confirmed by the Jerusalem Post.