Nearly two months after the U.S. and Israel jointly launched a military campaign against Iran dubbed Operation Epic Fury, Washington acknowledged in a new State Department memo that its decision to participate in the conflict came — at least in part — at Israel’s request. 

The statement, in a document authored by State Department Legal Advisor Reed Rubinstein, notes that defending Israel is just one part of a larger rationale for attacking Iran’s capabilities that Rubinstein says relies on decades of evidence. But it comes after several Trump administration officials pushed back on the narrative that Israel had forced the White House’s hand. 

“​​The United States is engaged in this conflict at the request of and in the collective self-defense of its Israeli ally, as well as in the exercise of the United States’ own inherent right of self-defense,” Rubinstein wrote in the document, dated Apr. 24. 

The memo is the most detailed look yet at the Trump administration’s justification for the latest conflict with Iran, which began on Feb. 28. Lawmakers, including leading Republicans, have at times expressed frustration that the administration is not being transparent enough in providing information about the war effort. 

There is currently a ceasefire in place as the two countries are engaged in negotiations, although President Donald Trump has threatened to restart military strikes if a deal is not reached. 

While Rubinstein writes that Israel requested the U.S. participate in striking Iran, his broader argument is that Iran has demonstrated “malign aggression” against the U.S., Israel and other allies in the region for decades. Therefore, according to Rubinstein, this latest salvo is merely the next stage of a decades-old conflict that began anew last June. 

“The operations recommenced in late February were part of an armed conflict with Iran that has been ongoing for years and, at the very least, since June 2025” when the U.S. and Israel struck Iran’s nuclear and military facilities, Rubinstein writes. Since the conflict did not officially end in June — a ceasefire is not the same as a formal agreement to end hostilities — he concludes that it has been ongoing, and the current fighting is just a new phase in the war. 

“If a conflict has not ended, then it must be ongoing,” Rubinstein argues.

The memo documents Iran’s extensive history of targeting American forces and assets, including through its proxies like Hamas and Hezbollah. He dates this part of his analysis back to 1979, when the Islamic Republic was created, arguing that the country has been attacking the U.S. and its “interests and its allies” ever since. It was Iran’s “clear pattern of unprovoked aggression and direct and proxy attacks against Israel and the United States” that spurred the U.S. to act last June, he writes. 

Rubinstein concludes by pointing out Iran’s response to the U.S. attacks: “wreaking havoc throughout the region.” That, according to Rubinstein, “further underscores the fundamental necessity, utility, reasonableness, and lawfulness of Operation Epic Fury’s mission and goals.”

The GOP-led House Judiciary Committee drafted a new memo on Thursday alleging that federal funding granted to USAID and nongovernmental organizations under the Biden administration was given to Palestinian nonprofits with ties to proscribed terror groups.

“Oversight conducted by the Committee reflects the Biden-Harris Administration’s neglect and misuse of taxpayer dollars through USAID, the State Department, and other federal agencies, which were used to directly and indirectly fund the efforts of anti-Netanyahu organizations and terrorist groups,” the memo sent to committee members, which was obtained by Jewish Insider, states.

Judiciary Committee Republicans also revealed in the memo that they were “expanding” their investigation “to include additional American and Israeli NGOs that may be involved in funneling U.S. government funds with the purpose of undermining the Israeli government or for the support or fiscal sponsorship of terrorist groups.”

The memo comes nearly four months after Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH), who chairs the Judiciary Committee, and Rep. Brian Mast (R-FL), chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, began reaching out to six NGOs to determine if they had received U.S. tax dollars through USAID or the State Department and the role they individually played in the protest movement. The inquiries specifically requested documentation and communications from the organizations about the funding applications, any communications between the NGOs in question and details about how the funds were spent. So far, the probe has not published evidence indicating that they have received federal funding.

The organizations — the Jewish Communal Fund, Middle East Dialogue Network, Movement for Quality Government in Israel, PEF Israel Endowment Funds, Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors and Blue and White Future — “produced 380 total documents” to the committees to date in the ongoing probe into “the Biden-Harris Administration’s use of U.S. taxpayer funds to undermine Israel’s democratically elected government,” according to the memo. 

Blue and White Future categorically denied the notion that the organization received any federal funding in a statement to JI and in communications with House lawmakers.

“No state entity, administration or government body – American or otherwise (USAID included) – has ever provided funding to the organization, whether directly or indirectly. All donations to the organization originate from private donors who care deeply about Israel’s security and its future. Every donation received and every activity undertaken by the organization is fully documented, reported, and independently audited in strict compliance with applicable law,” a BWF spokesperson told JI.

“The letters circulated by members of the U.S. Congress rely on biased and factually incorrect publications that bear no connection to reality. These claims are entirely baseless. The organization has clearly and comprehensively addressed these allegations in its responses to all relevant inquiries,” they added.