Natalie Kitroa

And over the last few days, the extent to which Netanyahu may have been a driving force behind this conflict has become a much more central question here.

And we want to go deep on that today to try to answer the unanswered questions about how much Israel is actually determining the shape of these attacks, which have now continued into a fifth day, and the degree to which this war is about what the U.S.

wants versus what Israel wants.

How should we think about that?

Right.

These comments by Rubio were seized upon.

They were immediately controversial.

Got it.

And to understand that new dynamic as you've described it, where should we start?

Where does that story begin?

OK, and tell me about that planning that was already underway, Ronan.

What do we know about it?

You're saying that when Trump came to office, there were already these plans afoot that involved a joint U.S.-Israel attack that Trump then has to contend with.

And in April of last year, he said no.

But obviously then a few months later, we do see these strikes on Iran's nuclear sites.

So Trump at some point changed his mind.

What happened?

How did Bibi succeed where he'd failed with previous presidents?

Meaning, is it being received well?

Right.