There is a phrase that has anchored Israeli strategic assumptions since the state’s founding: no daylight between Washington and Jerusalem. It has never been entirely true, American administrations have disagreed with Israeli governments plenty, over settlements, over Iran, over Gaza. But the underlying assumption held: when it mattered most, on questions touching Israeli security, Washington consulted Jerusalem first and weighed its objections most heavily.

This week’s reporting suggests that assumption is being quietly revised.

According to accounts now circulating among Israeli officials, the Trump administration pulled back from a planned strike on Iran after input from Saudi Arabia — a decision Israeli officials reportedly learned about only after the fact. The phrase being used inside the Israeli policy community, “left in the dark,” is not casual language. It is the language of an ally that expected to be consulted and was not.

It is worth asking why Riyadh, rather than Jerusalem, was the capital Washington........

© The Times of Israel (Blogs)