Trump called to bomb Iran before Netanyahu did, Harley Lippman says

Speaking in conversation with Jerusalem Post Editor-in-chief Zvika Klein, Lippman said that critics who argue Israel dragged the United States into confrontation with Iran are ignoring decades of Iranian hostility toward America.

“What I remind Americans is that in the 1980s, Donald Trump talked about bombing Iran,” Lippman said. “Bibi Netanyahu only first talked about it in 1992. So Trump was ahead of everyone.”

Lippman, the founder and CEO of Genesis10 and a longtime pro-Israel activist, said Iran’s war against the US predates many of the current debates over Israel.

“In 1979, when Iran had its revolution, they took hostage American diplomats,” he said. “Shortly after, they blew up an American embassy, not an Israeli embassy. Then they blew up an American military compound, killing hundreds of Marines, not IDF soldiers.”

Lippman said this history matters now because many Americans are being told that Israel pulled the United States into a war that was never its own.

“There is a feeling among too many Americans that Israel dragged America into this war,” he said. “That is one of the most dangerous misconceptions out there.”

The interview came as debate intensified over a reported US-Iran memorandum of understanding, which has drawn criticism from pro-Israel voices on both the right and the left.

Lippman described the MoU as a “shock to the system” for many Israelis and American Jews.

“It’s jarring,” he said. “People are upset.”

He said there are two ways to read the moment. The pessimistic view, he said, is that Israel was “sold out” and that Trump lacks the appetite for a broader confrontation. The optimistic view is that Trump understands the danger but is navigating domestic political pressures ahead of the midterm elections.

“All politics is local,” Lippman said. “People don’t care about what goes on in Iran. They worry about the price of gas, and that’s just a reality.”

Still, he said Americans must understand that Iran’s threat is directed first at the United States.

“No country in American history has been more obsessed with trying to destroy the United States than Iran,” he said. “Iran was building intercontinental ballistic missiles with one address on it, and that could carry only one thing: a nuclear warhead.”

Lippman rejected the argument that Iran’s threats should be dismissed as propaganda.

“When people say they’re going to do bad things, particularly to the Jews, they do it,” he said. “If we’ve learned anything from what happened on October 7, it’s that we have to be proactive and go after a threat before it becomes a bigger threat.”

Lippman also warned that Israel is facing a severe shift in American public opinion, especially among young people.

“There are dark clouds in the United States. I’m not going to sugarcoat it,” he said. “A few years ago, most Americans were pro-Israel and not pro-Palestinian. Today, most Americans are pro-Palestinian and not pro-Israel.”

Asked whether he could have imagined the current climate five years ago, Lippman said the change would have shocked him.

“This is old-fashioned antisemitism rearing its ugly head,” he said. “We got complacent because Jews in America had the best experience Jews have ever had in Jewish history.”

He argued that the Holocaust once created a moral guardrail in much of the West, but that its impact has weakened.

“For a long time, the Holocaust made the world feel guilty,” he said. “That’s changed.”

Lippman said the Jewish world needs to think differently about power. Fighting antisemitism, he said, is necessary, but Jewish communities must also become stronger and better organized.

“You’re not going to change everybody’s mind,” he said. “Make yourself invincible. The Jewish community and Israel need to make themselves as strong as possible.”

He said that means better coordination among Jewish organizations, less ego, and a serious approach to public messaging.

“Everybody knows we’re losing,” he said of Israel’s public relations battle. “Very badly.”

Lippman said Israel must explain itself in simple terms, especially to younger audiences consuming news through TikTok and Instagram.

“People don’t know the basics,” he said. “We don’t have a grievance with anyone. We don’t want to fight with anyone. We just want to live.”

He said Israel has failed to show its humanity abroad. Describing his flight to Israel through Athens, Lippman recalled Israeli passengers helping him lift heavy luggage.

“It’s a little glimpse of compassion,” he said. “Israelis have this heart that people don’t see.”

At the same time, he said Israeli leaders need to understand the importance of tone and image.

“Charm matters. Images matter,” he said. “These soft skills that Israel doesn’t focus on matter. The Arab world knows it brilliantly.”

Lippman said Israel’s enemies have learned how to present themselves more effectively to Western audiences.

“We need to have a public relations campaign to speak about peace, to make our case that we are peace-loving people,” he said.

“We have two huge enemies in the Middle East: Iran and Turkey,” he said. “Turkey is a real danger in the region, in some ways even worse than Iran.”

Still, Lippman said he sees possible openings in the Gulf, especially with Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain. Iran’s behavior, he said, may create new opportunities for Israel and its regional partners.

“There could be a window,” he said. “Saudi Arabia and Israel are really very aligned.”

The Palestinian issue, he said, remains the main obstacle to broader regional normalization.

Lippman said a Palestinian state could be considered only if it accepted all of Israel’s security requirements, including demilitarization, no right of return, and an end to radical education.

“If a responsible Palestinian leader would embrace that and be genuine, and it’s enforceable with a remedy, would that be worth it for Israel?” he asked. “The Arab-Israeli conflict as we know it is really almost over, especially if you have normalization with Saudi Arabia.”

He said the central message Israel must send to the region is that it is permanent.

“Israel is not going anywhere,” he said. “That’s what Sadat realized. Wars are not working. Israel is not losing.”

Lippman said Israel must restore deterrence while also pursuing diplomatic openings.

“The world evolves. Things change,” he said. “You need a strong military and to make us invincible in no uncertain terms. But you need a charm campaign. You can win the war, but you need to win the peace.”