Former IDF spox shoots down Axios report claiming Trump deceived Iran before ruinous Israeli strike: Glenn Beck interview

An Axios report accusing the U.S. president and the Israeli prime minister of behaving deceptively before the devastating attacks on Iran was dismantled by a former Israeli spokesperson.

The attack on Iran targeted numerous military sites and nuclear facilities while decapitating the military leadership in the operation dubbed "Rising Lion." Iran promised retaliatory attacks and launched missiles against Tel Aviv hours later.

'The Iranian leadership heard that, but they didn't do it. And as you said correctly, we are today on day 61 of the presidential ultimatum, and this is what happens.'

The Axios report claimed that the Trump administration had only pretended to distance itself from Israel and the possibility of a strike on Iran while seeking a nuclear deal with the Muslim country. That and other actions were planned for months in order to drop Iran's defenses and allow the strike to be more damaging, according to the report.

Axios noted that Trump administration officials admitted knowing about the plans prior to the attack but denied any military involvement.

"We are not involved in strikes against Iran, and our top priority is protecting American forces in the region," said Secretary of State Marco Rubio. "Israel advised us that they believe this action was necessary for its self-defense."

Blaze Media co-founder Glenn Beck spoke to former Israeli Defense Forces spokesperson Jonathan Conricus on his radio show Friday. Beck called the report "disappointing" and asked Conricus to comment on the claims made about Trump's involvement.

"They said President Trump was instrumental in all this, but he and Benjamin Netanyahu were engaged in deception, and I read this as, 'I don't think Israel would have done something this massive without the United States in their corner.' But I don't think it's deceptive when the president says, 'You have 60 days to negotiate, and you don't want to see what happens on day 61!'" said Beck.

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"I don't think that's deceptive to make plans to go in on day 61," he added. "He kept giving them the same warning over and over again. Do you read that as deception or a negotiator that is telling you the truth?"

"I think, actually, it's both. It's deception in the way of how to wage war and how to capture [the] enemy unaware and unprepared, and that is what Israel did," replied Conricus.

"Has the U.S. president been deceptive? No, I don't think so," he added. "I think he's been very straightforward, telling the Iranians time and time again, 'This is the best deal that you're going to get. You should relinquish all attempts to enrich material in Iran. And you should allow full comprehensive inspection of all of your sites, nuclear as well as weapons development.'"

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"'And if you do that, nothing bad is going to happen, and we will probably freeze sanctions and good things will happen to Iran,'" Conricus continued. "The Iranian leadership heard that, but they didn't do it. And as you said correctly, we are today on day 61 of the presidential ultimatum, and this is what happens."

Later in the interview, when Beck asked Conricus if he believed there were more strikes to come, his response was described as "chilling" by the host.

"No. No. This is not even the END of the BEGINNING," said the former spokesman.

Conricus was the international spokesperson for the IDF from 2017 until 2021.

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