The Global Story: The US and Israel entered the Iran war together. Is Israel now being sidelined?
Global News Podcast
BBC
4.3 • 8.3K Ratings
🗓️ 3 May 2026
⏱️ 28 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Since the start of the US-Israel war with Iran, there has been an ongoing debate over the role played by Israel’s prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu, in convincing Donald Trump to go to war.
But when it comes to ceasefire announcements, it has been the US President taking the lead - if the Israelis are present at all. So when it comes to ending the wars in Iran and Lebanon, are the Americans leaving Netanyahu out in the cold?
We speak to Anshel Pfeffer, Israel correspondent at The Economist, and author of Bibi: The Turbulent Life and Times of Benjamin Netanyahu.
The Global Story brings clarity to politics, business and foreign policy in a time of connection and disruption. For more episodes, just search 'The Global Story' wherever you get your BBC Podcasts.
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | BBC Sounds, Music, Radio, Podcasts. |
| 0:05.7 | Hey there, I'm Asma Khalid. |
| 0:07.9 | And I'm Tristan Redmond, and we're here with a bonus episode for you from the Global Story podcast. |
| 0:13.1 | The world order is shifting. Old alliances are fraying and new ones are emerging. Some of this |
| 0:19.7 | turbulence can be traced to decisions made in the United States. |
| 0:23.4 | But the U.S. isn't just a cause of the upheaval. |
| 0:26.7 | Its politics are also a symptom of it. |
| 0:29.8 | Every day we focus on one story, looking at how America and the world shape each other. |
| 0:35.0 | So we hope you enjoy this episode. |
| 0:37.1 | And to find more of our show, just search for the global story wherever you get your BBC podcasts. |
| 0:44.7 | When the ceasefire with Iran was announced last month, it was done so in typical Trump fashion, |
| 0:51.4 | in a post on a Tuesday evening on Truth social. In a lengthy message, filled with |
| 0:56.8 | quite a few words in all caps and a couple of exclamation points, the U.S. President wrote |
| 1:01.7 | that it is an honor to have this long-term problem close to resolution. The post had 206 |
| 1:09.4 | words and no mention of Israel, the other key country in this all. |
| 1:15.5 | In fact, it was hours later when a matter-of-fact statement was released by the Israeli |
| 1:20.2 | Prime Minister's office that read in part, Israel supports President Trump's decision |
| 1:24.9 | to suspend strikes against Iran. |
| 1:28.0 | For the last several weeks, there has been this ongoing debate here in the U.S. on both sides of the political aisle about how large role Benjamin Netanyahu played in convincing the American president to launch a war against Israel's biggest enemy. |
| 1:43.3 | Do you think the public fully grasped just how influential Nanyahu was in President |
| 1:48.2 | Trump's decision to attack Iran? |
| 1:49.8 | What did you learn? |
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