Killing Soleimani Was In Israel’s Interest, ‘Not in the American Interest’ (Says Former Obama Aide)

• Killing Soleimani Was In Israel’s Interest, ‘Not in the American Interest’ (Says Former Obama Aide)
  by Philip Weiss, https://mondoweiss.net/
  The media consensus is that Trump ordered the killing of Iranian general Qasem Soleimani because the U.S. president was angered by the attack on the U.S. embassy in Baghdad last week and because he felt a need to intimidate Iran. CNN and MSNBC are also offering the view that Trump is seeking to pump his popularity in the face of impeachment, or starting a war so he will be reelected.
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  Israel’s interest in the assassination continues to be my focus. Israel appears to have been a factor in Trump’s decision, beginning with the fact that his largest donor has called for a strike on Iran. As former White House negotiator Aaron David Miller tweeted:
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  If the Israelis weren’t somehow involved in this, I’d be stunned. Sulrimani’s been on their list for a long time.
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  The mainstream press keeps sidestepping the Israel angle, surely out of concern for antisemitism. So let’s connect the dots. Israel is virtually the only country that supported this operation, even the mainstream tells us. On MSNBC yesterday, Kristen Welker stated that American “partners and allies in the region” were against the killing “with the exception of Israel.”
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  What about the Saudis and Gulf States, often touted as a militant influence over U.S. policy? Opposed. “Even the Gulf States are reacting much more negatively than the Israelis are, because the Gulf states feel like they’re much more likely to absorb the retaliation. It’s been pretty interesting to see them… argue for deescalation. It’s clear they did not think this was a good idea, contrasting to Israel,” says Ilan Goldenberg, formerly of the Obama administration.
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  The Saudis had been trying to negotiate with Iran in recent months and were “spooked” by the assassination and are urging the Americans to show restraint, Daniel Benaim of the Center for American Progress said on the Brian Lehrer’s WNYC radio show yesterday. Note that the Saudis were not consulted about the assassination ahead of time, though Israel was (contradicting earlier reports).
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  Goldenberg, who had a long career in the Obama administration, said explicitly yesterday that the strike was “not in the American interest” and was strategically a “major mistake.” Michael Koplow of Israel Policy Forum asked Goldenberg why in Israel “for the most part this [killing] is being universally cheered,” and why his Israeli counterparts are “calling or texting” to say it was “an unqualified good move” and to wonder why it is “not being universally cheered in the United States.”
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