In a charged WarRoom segment on Wenesday, Steve Bannon and former CIA operative Sam Faddis delivered a sobering warning to the American public: the United States may have been deceived into escalating a war with Iran—by one of its closest allies.
Citing a Washington Post report and mounting intelligence failures, Faddis made the explosive claim:
"Israel ran the game, and we walked right into it because our intel failed.”
According to Faddis and Bannon, the Israeli government—led by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu—initiated strikes on Iran’s nuclear infrastructure days before scheduled U.S.-Iran backchannel talks, undermining President Trump’s diplomatic strategy and forcing a military response. The article in question alleges Netanyahu decided a year ago that a war with Iran was inevitable—and then sought to "recruit Trump” into the plan.
Bannon, who has long warned against regime change wars and foreign entanglements, expressed outrage that U.S. intelligence officials, including the CIA and DNI, reportedly canceled briefings amid the chaos. "We don’t have the full picture,” he said, demanding a complete review of strike reports, Israeli coordination, and internal assessments.
Faddis warned that American intelligence is dangerously dependent on foreign sources.
"Even a close ally like Israel should not be allowed to drive U.S. foreign policy behind closed doors,” he said. "We didn’t get independent verification. That’s a catastrophic failure.”
The two criticized Netanyahu not for defending Israeli interests—as any sovereign nation should—but for allegedly misleading the U.S. into joining a fight that may have been avoidable.
"Israel has every right to be Israel First,” Bannon emphasized, "but we must be America First. That means no more dragging us into endless wars on bad intelligence.”
While neither Bannon nor Faddis outright called for a change in Israeli leadership, the undertone was unmistakable: if it’s proven that Netanyahu manipulated events to involve the U.S. in conflict, it may be time for Israel to reconsider who is leading them into wars they can’t win alone.
Faddis raised further questions about the intelligence behind the strikes on Iran’s Fordow nuclear facility. "Why were we told Fordow was an urgent, ticking time bomb when experts say the enriched uranium had already been moved? Where did it go—and why wasn’t that bombed?”
In conclusion, Faddis called for President Trump to be protected from further manipulation: "We need a Team B inside U.S. intelligence—people loyal to this country, not careerists or foreign interests.”
For more context, watch this full WarRoom segment:
