As Israel prepared to assassinate Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah in September 2024, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his senior defense officials disagreed over whether to notify the Biden administration ahead of the operation, fearing Washington could try to stop the mission, according to Wall Street Journal editorial writer Elliot Kaufman and a second source familiar with the deliberations."140%, they won't approve of the mission," Netanyahu told senior Israeli defense officials, according to Kaufman, co-author of "In the War Room: The Inside Story of Israel's Fight Against Hamas and the Iranian Axis," who recounted the exchange in an interview with Fox News Digital.Then-Defense Minister Yoav Gallant and IDF Chief of Staff Herzi Halevi favored informing Washington, believing the Americans might support a strike against a Hezbollah leader linked to the deaths of U.S.service members, according to Kaufman.
Netanyahu, however, warned that then-U.S.National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan would "jump out of his skin" if he learned of the plans.The disagreement reflected a widening divide between Jerusalem and Washington over Israel's military campaign against Iran's regional proxies, as the Biden administration sought to prevent the fighting from escalating into a broader regional war.'BIBI'S HAIR ON FIRE': TRUMP-NETANYAHU PUBLIC 'RIFT' MASKED UNIFIED FRONT AGAINST IRAN, ANALYST SAYSfireball rises from the site of an Israeli airstrike that targeted an area in Beirut's southern suburbs overnight March 10 to 11, 2026.
(Fadel itani / AFP via Getty Images)When Israeli jets struck Hezbollah's headquarters in Beirut on September 27, 2024, the Pentagon said it had received no advance warning.Gallant spoke with then-Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin while the operation was already underway.The strike killed Nasrallah, who had led the Iranian-backed terrorist organization for more than three decades, marking a major turning point in Israel's campaign against Hezbollah, w...