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Secretary of State<\/span> Marco Rubio admitted that the U.S. was forced into the war with Iran by Israel while speaking with reporters on Monday.\u00a0He explained that the government of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had effectively boxed in the Trump administration, taking the decision out of American hands.<\/p>\n \u201cWe knew that there was going to be an Israeli action,\u201d Rubio explained. \u201cWe knew that that would precipitate an attack against American forces, and we knew that if we didn\u2019t pre-emptively go after them before they launched those attacks, we would suffer higher casualties.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n Rubio\u2019s disclosure highlights the Trump administration\u2019s unwillingness to rein in the actions of Israel, even when that country\u2019s policies resulted in U.S. attacks that only a tiny minority<\/a> of the American public supports.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n On Sunday, Netanyahu said the attacks on Iran were being conducted with \u201cthe assistance of the United States, my friend, U.S. President Donald Trump, and the U.S. military.\u201d He described how the second U.S.\u2013Israeli war with Iran in less than a year was something he had been fomenting for decades<\/a>. \u201cThis coalition of forces allows us to do what I have yearned to do for 40 years. \u2026 This is what I promised \u2014 and this is what we shall do.\u201d<\/p>\n Brian Finucane, a former State Department lawyer and expert in counterterrorism and the laws of war, suggested the secretary of state was using Israel as a convenient cover for Trump\u2019s own desire for war \u2014 illustrated by Trump\u2019s prior willingness to attack Venezuela and capture<\/a> its president, Nicol\u00e1s Maduro. Israel relies on U.S. military aid, which Trump could have used as leverage to pressure Netanyahu, Finucane said.<\/p>\n \u201cThe U.S. likely could have prevented Israel from attacking Iran if it really wanted to,\u201d Finucane, currently a senior adviser with the International Crisis Group, told The Intercept.<\/p>\n \u201cThe U.S. retains leverage over Israel.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/figure>\n Since the beginning of Israel\u2019s war on Gaza<\/a> in October 2023, the U.S. government has spent $21.7 billion on military aid to Israel<\/a>, according to Brown University\u2019s Costs of War Project<\/a>. Israel has also been the largest recipient of U.S. foreign aid since its founding, receiving more than $300 billion<\/a> in total assistance.\u00a0<\/p>\n U.S.\u2013Israeli strikes have killed at least 555 people in Iran and wounded hundreds more, according to the Iranian Red Crescent Society. This includes more than 165 people killed in an attack on an elementary school. On Monday, Central Command announced<\/a> six U.S. military personnel had been killed in action, including two troops who were previously unaccounted for.<\/p>\n Democratic leadership, including Reps. Gregory Meeks, the ranking member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee and Adam Smith, the ranking member of the House Armed Services Committee, sent a letter to Rubio and top Trump administration officials on Monday, ahead of Tuesday briefings. They called for the administration\u2019s legal justification for initiating hostilities, U.S. objectives, and \u201cwhat conditions would constitute mission success, and under what circumstances would operations cease.\u201d<\/p>\n The State Department did not respond to request for comment by The Intercept on Rubio\u2019s claims that Israel was effectively dictating U.S. war policy and whether it would continue to exert undue influence going forward.<\/p>\n \u201cThe U.S. retains leverage over Israel and, if it really wanted to, may be able to compel Israel to cease its military operations,\u201d said Finucane. \u201cBut whether Iran is ready to cease hostilities is a separate matter.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n\n