Shapiro served as Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for the Middle East until January—charged with, among other things, considering scenarios in which tensions between Israel and Iran escalated into all-out war and preparing U.

Trump told the Wall Street Journal that he knew all about Israel’s plan ahead of time, that he wasn’t given a mere “heads-up.”

The president had asked Israel to hold off. Now he’s scrambling to make a deal that some of his advisors say is hopeless.