JUANA SUMMERS, HOST:
Will the United States attack Iran's nuclear facilities? President Trump said today he hasn't made a decision, but he's previously called for unconditional surrender. Israel has not publicly called on the U.S. to join its offensive against Iran. But today, in an interview with NPR, Israel's President Isaac Herzog called for international support in destroying Iran's main nuclear facilities. NPR's Daniel Estrin is on the line from Israel. Hi, Daniel.
DANIEL ESTRIN, BYLINE: Hi, Juana.
SUMMERS: What is it like to meet with the president of a country that's at war?
ESTRIN: President Herzog said he's had some sleepless nights recently. We met in the president's official residence in Jerusalem. The streets around the residence were very quiet because of all the missile fire from Iran in the last several days. Just about three hours after I met the president, Iran launched more missiles at Israel. Here's what the air raid sirens sounded like.
(SOUNDBITE OF AIR RAID SIRENS)
ESTRIN: I should just say that the Israeli president plays a more ceremonial role as head of state. He did get a security briefing from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu yesterday, and he does play a diplomatic role behind the scenes.
SUMMERS: What did he have to say about Israel's behind-the-scenes conversations with the United States about Israel's attack plans?
ESTRIN: He said Israel was planning this attack for a few months, but the decision to carry it out was taken a few days ago, and that was after Israel shared with the U.S. intelligence he said Israel has about Iranian plans to produce a nuclear weapon.
PRESIDENT ISAAC HERZOG: I don't say that we got the approval from the United States, nor did we cooperate, but we've exposed to the Americans the hard intelligence and evidence that we have.
ESTRIN: He said the U.S. did know for days that Israel was considering a strike on Iran, but this is the first time an Israeli leader is speaking so specifically about Israel sharing such intelligence that they say they had with the U.S. Now, we should note the director of U.S. national intelligence testified in March that the U.S. intelligence community did not think Iran was building a nuclear weapon, but President Trump has dismissed that assessment.
SUMMERS: Now, what did the Israeli president say about the U.S. joining Israel in attacking Iran?
ESTRIN: I asked the Israeli president about that several times. I asked whether Israel would welcome U.S. involvement in Iran. He was very careful not to give a direct answer, but he said the - he respects the president of the United States, and he said, quote, "we'll just have to wait and see." He tried to make the case that Israel's campaign to destroy Iran's nuclear weapons capabilities was in the interest of the world and the U.S.
HERZOG: There's a bigger picture here that the world and the American people should understand. We have to stop this empire of evil - no more. And tell them, get the g****** nukes out of your hands and start behaving in a decent way and not be the rogue state you are all over the world. It's impossible.
ESTRIN: I want to add that I spoke with a person familiar with the matter, speaking on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the issue, who told me Israeli officials are not asking the U.S. to join in the attack on Iran, but Israeli officials would be happy for the U.S. to actively participate and think the U.S. will indeed take part with Israel in bombing Iran.
SUMMERS: Daniel, would Israel need the U.S. to actually achieve its goal of destroying Iran's nuclear sites?
ESTRIN: The president of Israel would not answer that question directly, but here's what he did say.
HERZOG: We are doing it alone, and we hope that there will be further support by other nations.
ESTRIN: And about support by other nations, you know, military experts say Israel does not have the bunker-busting bombs nor the warplanes to pierce through Iran's most fortified nuclear facility, Fordow. The U.S. does have that capability, and so that's why the question of U.S. involvement is crucial.
SUMMERS: That's NPR's Daniel Estrin, who met with Israel's president today in Jerusalem. Daniel, thank you so much.
ESTRIN: You're welcome. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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