Turkish officials suspect that an Israeli intelligence report about an Iranian plot to assassinate President Trump at the NATO summit in Ankara last month was a ruse designed to derail diplomacy between the US and Iran, Middle East Eye reported on Tuesday.
The Washington Post first reported on Monday that the US thought there was a credible enough threat against Trump that he secretly swapped planes when he departed Turkey. The president flew into Ankara on a new version of Air Force One donated by Qatar, but made a public show of departing on the older Air Force One, saying he was doing so for “old time’s sake.”
According to the Post report, after boarding the older Air Force One, Trump was then moved to a third plane, an Air Force C-32A, via a catering truck. Some White House staffers and reporters on the older Air Force One thought President Trump was also onboard as they flew to the UK, making them unwitting decoys.
Missing from the Post report was where the intelligence about a plot against Trump came from. According to Middle East Eye and also a report from The Wall Street Journal, it came from Israel, which aligns with reports from the time.
Sources told MEE that the Israeli intelligence report warned that Iranian covert forces could target Air Force One at the airport in Ankara using shoulder-fired rockets, known as MANPADS, from just one kilometer away. Due to the alleged threat, the Secret Service moved the departure point from Ankara Airport to Esenboga Airport and wanted to switch from the new Air Force One to the old one.
“Of course, we took the report very seriously and tried to assist our American counterparts as much as possible,” a source, described as a person familiar with the matter, told MEE. “Yet it was very clear to us that there was no way this report was true.”
The report said Turkish officials believe that the government of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu devised the plot to make it appear that Israel was protecting Trump, further derail diplomacy between the US and Iran, and also strain relations between Trump and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, whom the US president repeatedly praised during the summit. Israel has strongly opposed the idea of the US selling F-35 fighter jets to Turkey, something Trump has said he’s strongly considering.
Another source, described as an Ankara insider, told MEE that it was ironic that the Secret Service’s decision to move Trump has been leaked just one month after it happened. “I guess they need heroes for an attack that never happened and, most likely, was never planned,” the insider said.
