‘I stopped Netanyahu from catastrophic attack on Iran’ – Peres’ statement concealed ‘til death (Also: The White House seemed to have had a momentary blackout, listing Jerusalem as part of Israel in an official press release, going against its own long-standing policy. They then simply struck its Middle Eastern ally’s name out.)

Freudian slip? White House puts Jerusalem in Israel, rushes to correct itself
US policy on Jerusalem’s status has been unchanged for decades now. In 1948, the US, via President Harry Truman formally recognized Israel as a country, but did not recognize Israeli sovereignty over the holy city of Jerusalem.

Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu points to a red line he has drawn on the graphic of a bomb as he addresses the 67th United Nations General Assembly at the U.N. Headquarters in New York, September 27, 2012 © Lucas Jackson / Reuters 

In a statement that was not to be made public until his death, the former Israeli President told Jerusalem Post he stopped PM Benjamin Netanyahu from a “catastrophic” military strike against Iran, at the time the world leaders were engaged in nuclear deal talks.

Up until P5+1 (China, France, Russia, the United Kingdom, the United States, plus Germany) announced the agreement with Iran in July 2015, to limit the country’s nuclear development in exchange for sanction relief, Israel was threatening to take unilateral action against Tehran. A day after the funeral of Shimon Peres, Jerusalem Post published the former president’s revelation which was shared with the publication two years ago, revealing that he was solemnly responsible for stopping Netanyahu’s plan. With this revelation, it seems that plans to attack Iran at the time were not just empty threats.