DID CARTER TRY TO SABOTAGE US-ISRAELI RELATIONS?

Carter failed tell Reagan about Israeli concerns with Osirak by Judith A. Klinghoffer (Political Mavens)
Did Jimmy and his men try to sabotage US - Israeli relations or were they just disorganized incompetents? You choose. One thing is clear, the Reagan administration's harsh response to the Osirak bombing was based on the faulty assumption that Israel failed to inform the US of its concerns. The following passages from his diary tell the story. The italics are mine:

June 7 - Got word Israeli bombing of Iraq - nuclear reactor. I swear Armageddon is near.Returned to W.H. at 3 P.M. More word on bombing. P.M. Begin informed us after the fact.

June 9 - Ended the day with an N.S.C. meeting re the bombing of Iraq. P.M. Begin insists the plant was preparing to produce nuclear weapons for use on Israel. If he waited ’til the French shipment of “hot” Uranium arrived he couldn’t order the bombing because to the radiation that would be loosed over Baghdad. I can understand his fear but feel he took the wrong option. He should have told us & the French, we could have done something to remove the threat.

June 11 - Then after lunch the U.N. phase started; 5 Arab St. Ambassadors, followed by the Israeli Amb. The 5 of course protested we hadn’t been hard enough on Israel. The Israeli deplored the harsh action we’d taken. I told all of them out goal was peace in the Middle East. The bombing was the result of the suspicions & hostilities that exist there. We are going to keep on trying to keep on trying to bring peace to Lebanon & then Between Arabs & Israelis.

The truth is the Arab indignation on behalf of Iraq is a waste. Saddam Hussein is a “no good nut” and I think he is trying to build a nuclear weapon. He has called for the destruction of Israel & he wants to be the leader of the Arab world - that’s why he invade Iran.

June 16 - We have just learned that Israel & the previous admin. did communicate about Iraq & the nuclear threat & the U.S. agreed it was a threat. There was never a mention of this to us by the outgoing admin. Amb. Lewis cabled word to us after the Israeli attack on Iraq & now we find there was a stack of cables & memos tucked away in St. Dept. files.