U.S. President Donald Trump said he is strongly considering pulling the United States out of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) after the alliance failed to join the attacks on Iran, The Telegraph reported on Wednesday.
When asked if he would reconsider America's membership in the alliance after the conflict, he said the question is "beyond reconsideration," adding, "I was never swayed by NATO. I always knew they were a paper tiger."
Trump also expressed dissatisfaction with NATO for "not being there," saying it was "actually hard to believe."
Speaking at a press conference on Tuesday, U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said Trump would make a decision on the future of NATO given the fact that some U.S. allies refuse to provide support, after the end of U.S. military operations against Iran.
Following Trump's criticism, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said he is not changing his position on the war.
Multiple European countries have kept their distance from the conflict with Iran. Starmer on Monday said his country will not get dragged into the conflict "whatever the pressure and whoever it's coming from," while Spain on Monday closed its airspace to all flights related to the U.S. and Israeli military strikes on Iran.
Trump calls NATO 'paper tiger,' considers withdrawal
The U.S.-Israeli war on Iran is exacerbating tensions in the surrounding region and could bring disastrous consequences for Israel, said a former senior advisor to the Israeli Prime Minister's Office.
The joint U.S.-Israeli strikes on Tehran and several other Iranian cities began on Feb. 28. The attacks killed Iran's former Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei along with senior military commanders and hundreds of civilians. The conflict has continued since then as Iran launched counterattacks on multiple targets.
Daniel Levy, former senior advisor to the Israeli Prime Minister's Office, said in an interview with China Central Television (CCTV) that with the war lasting for over a month, voices of opposition have emerged within Israel.
"I think many in Israel are questioning: can we actually achieve all of this? There is a lot of capital flight money leaving the country, there is a brain drain, people leaving the country. There is this internal division because at the end of the day, it's a small country with a small amount of people living in a region which it is turning into an implacable enemy. I mean, the amount of anger Israel is generating in its surrounding. So I think many consider this to be a highly risky strategy that could have dramatic blowback for Israel," he said.
In his view, Israel had long been trying to drag the United States into a war with Iran, and finally succeeded in February.
"America, with Israel beginning it, launches a war against Iran -- absolute partisan polarization. And many believe that, for good reasons, that this is an Israel-first war, not an America-first war. And Secretary Rubio even said: 'we actually had to go to war because Israel was going to go to war, so Iran would have responded, so we had to go to war.' In other words, Israel decide this war," he said.
Fears emerge in Israel of dramatic blowback from war on Iran: former Israeli advisor
