A published report alleging that the Trump administration pressured Israel to carry out military strikes on Iran in order to shield President Donald Trump from political fallout ahead of the US midterm elections was denied within hours by two US officials and one Israeli official.
The report, published Saturday by The Jerusalem Post and citing the Hebrew-language Israeli newspaper Maariv, described a pressure campaign spanning roughly two weeks in which Washington sought to have Israel assume the political risks of a military operation against Iran. According to the account, American officials believed Israel would have its own reasons to strike Iran before its elections, while a US operation ahead of the midterms could carry negative political consequences for Trump.
The Jerusalem Post reported that the administration had since backed down from its demand, at least for now. Two US officials and one Israeli official denied the report, according to Axios correspondent Barak Ravid, who said the US did not ask Israel to initiate a strike against Iran before the elections.
The allegation lands in a politically charged environment shaped by an ongoing US war with Iran that has weighed heavily on Trump's standing. His approval among Americans has fallen to career lows, driven in large part by the deeply unpopular conflict, which has also kept fuel prices elevated. On Saturday, the average cost of diesel fuel stood at $6.28, about 25 cents below the all-time high reached late last month, while the average price of regular fuel was $4.37, far above the $3.10 recorded a year earlier.
Trump has intensified threats to resume strikes on Iran in recent weeks, including as recently as Friday during a rally in New York, where he warned he may opt to «finish it off» if Iran refused to accept a deal. That posture has kept the prospect of renewed military action in public view even as the reported pressure campaign on Israel remains disputed.
The denials from US and Israeli officials came quickly, but they did not resolve questions about the substance of the Maariv account or the extent of coordination between Washington and Jerusalem. The report's central claim — that the US wanted Israel to bear the political risk of a strike before the midterms — touches on the intersection of military planning and electoral timing that has defined the administration's approach to Iran.
The broader conflict continues to reverberate through global energy markets. Since the Iran war began on Feb. 28, at least 93 ships have been hit and 24 sailors have been killed, according to the International Maritime Organization. Iran has stepped up drone and missile strikes on vessels in and around the Strait of Hormuz, the narrow waterway through which a large share of the world's oil flows, even as traffic has continued with US military protection and pipeline bypasses.
The risks have driven extraordinary costs for shipping. Tanker captains can earn $100,000 a month for transiting the strait, plus a $50,000 bonus for each trip, up from regular pay of about $15,000 a month, while sailors typically make as little as $1,500 a month and can see earnings rise four to six times normal rates for Hormuz trips. War-risk insurance can command 6% to 10% of a ship's value, translating to as much as $20 million for a supertanker, and freight rates for cargoes crossing the strait have hit a record $1.3 million per day, up from $20,000 to $50,000 a day last year.
Those figures underscore how the war has reshaped both the politics of the midterm season and the economics of the oil trade. For the administration, the reported pressure campaign — and the swift denials it drew — adds another layer of scrutiny to a conflict that has already become a central liability for Trump as voters prepare to cast ballots.