A severe disagreement has emerged between the two friends regarding the next steps in the Iran conflict. While Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin ‘Bibi’ Netanyahu is not happy with the steps taken by Washington DC, US President Donald John Trump is unwilling to fulfil Netanyahu’s desires. The US media reported that the two Heads of State held a tense and heated phone call on May 19, 2026 regarding how to handle the escalating Iran crisis and to revive diplomacy with Tehran.

Reports suggest that the Israeli Prime Minister strongly opposed President Trump’s push to keep the path for diplomatic talks with Iran open. Instead, Netanyahu advised the US President to launch fresh attacks on the Islamic Republic. The telephonic conversation between the two leaders, which lasted nearly an hour, reportedly turned tense at one stage as Netanyahu became quite agitated after having fiery exchanges with President Trump.

CNN claimed that the two leaders discussed the Iran issue over phone on May 17, 2026. However, Trump announced on May 18 that he was postponing the planned military strike on Iran. He made the announcement following direct appeals from Gulf leaders, including Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, Qatari Emir Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani and UAE President Mohammed bin Zayed.

Prime Minister Netanyahu, who is not in favour of diplomatic talks with Tehran, asked the US President to change his decision. He even told Trump that his decision to delay the planned military strikes on Iran was a “mistake“, stressing that the US should have carried out attacks. According to sources close to the White House, Netanyahu left the President feeling like his “hair was on fire” by repeatedly asking him to launch the military operation as soon as possible. Sources said that while Trump wanted to reach an agreement with Iran through peaceful negotiations, Netanyahu wanted the US to continue the military operation.

After the phone call, a top Israeli official, on condition of anonymity, told the press that Prime Minister Netanyahu expressed mounting frustration over Iran’s perceived diplomatic “foot-dragging“, leading to severe tensions regarding whether to resume military action or pursue an agreement. He stressed that diplomatic negotiations between the US and Iran remained at a critical stalemate, with Tehran maintaining its firm 14-point proposal stance and refusing to halt its near-weapons-grade uranium enrichment.

It may be noted that the US officials previously claimed that there was a difference in objectives between the US and Israel regarding the war with Iran. Now, the disagreement between President Trump and Prime Minister Netanyahu has highlighted that significant divide regarding how to de-escalate the ongoing crisis and handle Iran’s nuclear ambitions. While Trump has publicly claimed that a deal (with Tehran) remains possible, Netanyahu is reportedly more supportive of continued military pressure on Iran.

Meanwhile, Tehran has confirmed that it is reviewing the latest US proposal, insisting that any agreement must include sanctions-related concessions and the release of frozen Iranian funds.

Meanwhile,

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Published by Koushik Das

Koushik Das (born on May 16, 1976 in Kolkata) is a career journalist. Based in the Indian capital of New Delhi, Koushik writes mainly about foreign policies and current geopolitical issues, and rarely about other topics. His own political ideas are highly influenced by Antonio Gramsci, Louis Althusser, Michel Foucault, Michael Oakeshott and others. English philosopher and political theorist Oakeshott (Dec 11, 1901-Dec 19, 1990) says that “in political activity, men sail a boundless and bottomless sea. There is neither harbour for shelter nor floor for anchorage, neither starting-place, nor appointed destination. But we have to keep afloat”. (Rationalism in Politics, 1962) As a student of Political Science, Koushik loves to share his views on issues, which have great impacts on his thought process (and also on India, South Asia and of course on the global community), with his readers through his website – Boundless Ocean of Politics. By doing so, he tries to keep himself afloat. You will find some of his articles in https://inserbia.info/today/ (https://inserbia.info/today/author/kou_das13_i/), as he has been trying to assess the global geopolitics since 2003. You can also mail him at kousdas@gmail.com View all posts by Koushik Das