In the first call in the past two months since tensions in the Middle East escalated, President Joe Biden spoke to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu about Israel’s response to Iran’s missile attack on last week. The White House said the call lasted half an hour and that the interview was direct, honest and productive. “The United States and the Israeli government held discussions last week, after the attack on Iran. These discussions have continued with the president and the prime minister,” said White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre.
“We’re going to continue to have these discussions with Israel about how they’re going to respond,” she said.
The chat on a secure line, which also included Vice President Kamala Harris, began shortly after 10:30 a.m.
The call comes amid tensions between Biden and Netanyahu and was the first since August 21, a seven-week period during which Israel also launched an offensive against Hezbollah in Lebanon. Biden warned Israel against trying to target Iran’s nuclear program and also opposed a strike on the country’s oil facilities that would send oil prices soaring less than a month before the U.S. presidential election.
A new book by veteran journalist Bob Woodward details the growing divide, with Biden telling Netanyahu in July that “the notion of Israel around the world is increasingly that you are a rogue state, a rogue actor,” the New York Instances.
White House officials, concerned after being caught off guard by a series of Israeli attacks on Hezbollah in Lebanon, demanded a dialogue Wednesday and insisted it take place before Israel leads a counterattack. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin reportedly was “angry beyond words,” administration official said, because lack of clear warning about attacks in Lebanon put American lives at risk in the Middle East.
