Israel’s “Left in the Dark” Story Rests on Unnamed Officials and an Unidentified Israeli Outlet

Two Times of Israel liveblog entries carry the Israeli side of Saturday’s cancellation: that Israel had planned to join the US in striking Iranian energy sites and was left in the dark when Trump called it off after Qatari mediators reported Tehran had agreed to open the strait; and that Israel found out from the Truth Social post — the same post asserting that “the Country of Israel joins me in this commitment” — with US Central Command also not told in advance. That second entry is attributed to “the Israeli outlet,” unnamed in the material available to this desk. ToI’s live index adds an unattributed official line: “We were left in the dark on nixed Iran attack; we don’t know what Trump’s endgame is.” ToI also notes Iran denies both asking Trump to hold off and agreeing to divide control of Hormuz.

The number worth tracking sits in a ToI report filed Sunday 22:03 by Lazar Berman with staff and agencies: a deal said to be in the works to revive the US–Iran memorandum and open Hormuz for 60 days without fees. Trump, on Air Force One on Sunday, said he acted at the request of Gulf allies, called a deal “imminent,” and said negotiations begin Monday 3 August. CNN’s 1 August live file named Qatar and Pakistan among mediators in contact with Steve Witkoff, with an Iran–Oman arrangement to restart commercial traffic as the immediate objective, attributed to three people familiar; the same outlet had reported planned strikes “as soon as this weekend” citing two officials, and Trump at Friday’s cabinet meeting saying “we will be hitting them very hard.”

Inside the Israeli press, the sourcing question surfaced explicitly. In its 1 August liveblog, Times of Israel flagged that a claim Israel was on “highest alert” carried no sourcing, and that Haaretz, citing CBS, also reported “high alert” — while noting the IDF had issued no such information. The same liveblog records an Israeli assessment that Iran would fire ballistic missiles at Israel even if the IDF did not initially take part in a renewed American offensive. Haaretz’s own newsfeed entries, timestamped 2 August at 01:47 and 01:53, had negotiations starting Monday and a Hormuz-plus-denuclearisation deal “imminent,” and Trump calling off the attack after Tehran sought more time.

Assessment: An Israeli outlet publicly marking another Israeli outlet’s war-alert claim as unconfirmed by the military is the more durable item here. Alert levels in the fifth month of a war are being sourced to an American broadcaster rather than to the IDF, and ToI said so in public. On the cancellation itself, hold the line between the post, which is documented, and how Jerusalem learned of it, which rests on one unidentified outlet and unnamed officials. The 60-day fee-free opening is the only claim in the file that will be falsified or confirmed by shipping data rather than by briefers.