Are US and Israel aligned on Iran war? Deciphering Trump's post after gas field attacks

So what does the language used by the US president tell us about the course of the war and the extent to which the US and Israel are aligned on its strategy and goals? As is often the case with the president's assertions, it is not easy to know where the truth lies.

His choice of words to describe the Israeli attack is also telling.

"Out of anger," he says, Israel "violently lashed out" against the gas field. This is the sort of language used to describe some of Iran's wilder retaliations - not a carefully considered military operation by a close ally.

"NO MORE ATTACKS WILL BE MADE BY ISRAEL pertaining to this extremely important and valuable South Pars Field," he writes, "unless Iran unwisely decides to attack a very innocent, in this case Qatar. "

For a president who needs to feel he's in control, was this a reflection of an undertaking already given, or a shot across Benjamin Netanyahu's bows? On Thursday evening, Netanyahu held a press conference in which he echoed Trump's statement, saying that Israel had "acted alone" in striking the gas field, and that Trump had asked that Israeli forces "hold off" from further attacks like it. He repeatedly sought to paint a picture of himself and Trump as united on Iran – with Trump in charge – asking, "Does anyone really think that someone can tell President Trump what to do?" and saying, "I don't think any two leaders have been as coordinated as President Trump and I. I'm, you know, his ally. "

On Thursday morning, Alex Gandler, spokesman for the Israeli embassy in London, told the BBC, "We are very much aligned on most or all of our goals regarding the Islamic regime in Iran, the IRGC [Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps], their ballistic and nuclear programmes," and "We want the same thing. "

But while the two allies clearly agree on much, Israel has been much more consistent about its desire to see regime change in Iran. Netanyahu has made no secret of his decades-long desire to topple the Islamic regime, which he – and many Israelis – see as intent on destroying the Jewish state. While the US has concentrated much of its military effort on degrading Iran's missile and drone capability, sinking its Navy and, in recent days, attacking targets along Iran's long Gulf shoreline, Israel has gone to great lengths to assassinate Iran's leaders and attack elements of state control, including paramilitary Basij units responsible for much of the violent crackdown on protests earlier this year.

David Satterfield, a former US special envoy for the Middle East, said Israeli and American objectives are closely aligned - except when it comes to when to call a halt.

"I strongly believe he [Trump] wishes to find a means to credible declare a victory that does not ring empty," he told the BBC. "He is not…looking for a quixotic regime change goal that was never on the cards realistically. "

Trump is certainly not letting Iran off the hook here, but he does appear to suggest that Iran did not know the full picture when it struck back - that Tehran may, erroneously, have thought Qatar was involved.

If Iran attacks Qatar's LNG [liquefied natural gas] facilities again, he warns, the US "with or without the help or consent of Israel, will massively blow up the entirety of the South Pars Gas Field at an amount of strength and power that Iran has never seen or witnessed before".

And it is certainly true that Washington could inflict infinitely more damage on Iran – and its people – than it has already.

Support for the war, still sky high in Israel, is at less than 50% in the US.

The conflict could help secure another term as prime minister for Netanyahu, while costing Donald Trump's Republican Party in November's midterm elections.

Israel and the US are close military allies, but this is the first time they've fought a war together