Pete Hegseth wanted to strike Houthis before Israel could, according to texts leaked to the Atlantic
Jeffery Goldberg was “inadvertently” added to a group text with J.D. Vance, Marco Rubio and Pete Hegseth
U.S. President-elect Donald Trump’s nominee for Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth speaks during a Senate Armed Services confirmation hearing on Capitol Hill on January 14, 2025 in Washington, DC. Hegseth, an Army veteran and the former host of “FOX & Friends Weekend” on FOX News will be the first of the incoming Trump administration’s nominees to face questions from Senators. (Andrew Harnik/Getty Images)
(JTA) — In a shocking report published Monday, Jeffrey Goldberg, editor-in-chief of the Atlantic, revealed that he was accidentally added to a group chat in which very senior government officials planned a strike on the Houthi terror group in Yemen earlier this month.
The most dramatic revelation in the article was that the vice president, defense secretary and secretary of state, among other officials, were planning a military campaign on a civilian texting app — and that they accidentally invited a journalist to the chat.
But the article also details a debate over when and whether the United States should conduct the strike against the Houthis, who have been attacking Israel and international shipping in the Red Sea since Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel. Vice President J.D. Vance expressed skepticism about the major bombing attack and recommended delaying it — until Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth made the case for moving forward fast.
Hegseth, according to the texts, was worried that Israel would hit the Houthis first.
“Waiting a few weeks or a month does not fundamentally change the calculus,” he wrote, according to Goldberg. “2 immediate risks on waiting: 1) this leaks, and we look indecisive; 2) Israel takes an action first – or Gaza cease fire falls apart – and we don’t get to start this on our own terms.”
(At the time, Israel and Hamas were in the midst of a ceasefire. It ended days after the U.S. strikes on Yemen, when Israel bombed Gaza.)
Goldberg, a Jewish journalist who has written extensively about Israel, the Middle East and national security affairs, at first suspected that the group chat was fake, or was a ploy to lure him into doing something embarrassing. But he confirmed that it was real when Hegseth gave a time for the first airstrikes, and people in Yemen reported hearing the strikes minutes later.
Goldberg was added to the chat by National Security Adviser Mike Waltz, and Waltz’s office confirmed that the texts were authentic. It said Goldberg had been added “inadvertently.”
Since the U.S. strikes and the resumption of fighting in Gaza, the Houthis have resumed targeting Israel, sending Israelis five times to shelters in recent days. The missiles have all fallen short or been intercepted.
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