President Biden and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu moved closer to an understanding on the scope of Israel’s planned retaliation against Iran during their call on Wednesday, three U.S. and Israeli officials tell Axios.
Why it matters: The Biden administration accepts that Israel will soon launch a major attack on Iran, but it fears that strikes on certain targets could dramatically escalate the regional war.
- The current plans are still a bit more aggressive than the White House would like, a senior Israeli official said.
- However, after the Biden-Netanyahu call, a U.S. official said, “We are moving in the right direction.” Another U.S. official said the administration was a little less nervous about Israel’s plans after the call.
- The senior Israeli official also said the gaps between the U.S. and Israel on the nature and scope of the attack had narrowed.
Behind the scenes: U.S. officials said the Biden-Netanyahu call was the culmination of nearly two weeks of consultations between the Biden administration and the Israeli government since Iran launched around 180 missiles at Israel in an attack that was largely thwarted.
- On Wednesday, before the call between Biden and Netanyahu, a separate call took place between national security adviser Jake Sullivan and Israeli Minister for Strategic Affairs Ron Dermer, U.S. officials said.
- The Sullivan-Dermer call was the most detailed discussion to date between the U.S. and Israel in terms of Israel’s plans.
- Biden and Netanyahu reaffirmed some of the understandings Sullivan and Dermer reached in their call, senior U.S. and Israeli officials say.
State of play: The Israeli Security Cabinet convened on Thursday night local time for a briefing about the plans to attack Iran and about the understandings with the Biden administration, Israeli officials say.
- The Security Cabinet is likely to authorize Netanyahu and Minister of Defense Yoav Gallant to determine the timing of the attack.
What’s next: U.S. and Israeli officials say working-level consultations between the U.S. and Israel on the retaliation against Iran continued on Thursday and will continue in the coming days.
- Gallant may travel to Washington early next week to continue the discussions with Sullivan and Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin.
Source: Axios
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