Oh maybe Biden has finally had enough
Israel should not count on US help in case of another escalation: Report
Axios reports that US President Biden has told Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu during a “tough” phone call on Thursday that he should not count on Washington’s support to bail him out again if there is another regional escalation.
Biden said he will help Israel against an expected Iranian attack following the assassination of Haniyeh, but after that he expects no more escalation from Israel and an immediate movement toward a Gaza ceasefire agreement, the report said, citing anonymous US sources.
However, in its official statement on the phone call, the White House said Biden “reaffirmed his commitment to Israel’s security against all threats from Iran, including its proxy terrorist groups Hamas, Hezbollah, and the Houthis”.
The Axios story also cited three unidentified Israeli officials as saying there was tension during Biden’s meeting with Netanyahu in the Oval Office last week.
“Biden raised his voice and said he wants a deal reached within a week to two weeks,” the report said, adding that Biden emphasised this was “the most important thing right now”.
Or maybe not
Israel’s Gallant hails ‘unprecedented security cooperation’ with US
Israel’s Defence Minister Yoav Gallant and his US counterpart Lloyd Austin discussed military deployments and security measures in their second phone call in the past 72 hours, the Israeli government has said.
The talks came in advance of an expected Iranian retaliation for the assassination of Haniyeh in Tehran.
Pentagon spokesperson Sabrina Singh said Austin informed Gallant of “ongoing and future defensive force posture changes that the department will take to support the defence of Israel”.
Singh added that the move could include deploying additional forces to the region, but said Austin had not made a decision.
Gallant’s office said he told Austin that Israel is “determined to defend the citizens of Israel”.
“The unprecedented security cooperation between Israel and the United States against Iran and its proxies is critical to regional security and stability,” Gallant said.
