Biden, Netanyahu to discuss Israel's plans to respond to Iran on Wednesday - Axios

U.S. President Joe Biden is expected to have an important phone conversation on Wednesday morning with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu about Israel's plans to strike Iran, Axios reports, citing three U.S. officials, UNN writes.

Details

According to the publication, this conversation will be the first between Biden and Netanyahu in two tense months and will take place at a time "when Israel is considering major attacks that could significantly escalate its regional war.

Netanyahu spent several hours Tuesday night with senior ministers and heads of Israel's military and intelligence services to try to decide on the scale and timing of Israeli attacks, according to two Israeli officials.

"Officials say Israeli retaliation is expected to be significant and likely to include a combination of airstrikes on military targets in Iran and covert attacks, such as the one that killed Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran," the newspaper writes.

Israel has also weighed possible strikes on Iran's oil infrastructure, which Biden has made clear he would oppose.

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An aide to Netanyahu told Axios that "as soon as it's approved, Netanyahu will want to inform Biden.

"We want to use the call to try to determine the limits of an Israeli retaliatory strike," one U.S. official told Axios.

The US official said that the US wants to make sure that Israel attacks targets in Iran that matter but are not disproportionate.

The expected conversation between Biden and Netanyahu will take place a week after Iran launched about 180 ballistic missiles at Israel.

Tehran said its response would end if Israel did not attack Iran. Israel, for its part, vowed to retaliate.

"Both U.S. and Israeli officials believe that retaliation will continue, and Iran will respond to Israel's attack, and the U.S. and Israel will have to work together to counter the Iranian response," the publication points out.

National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan told Israeli Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer on Friday that the United States expects Israel to be "clear and transparent" about its plans, as they have implications for US forces and interests in the region.

Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Galant was scheduled to travel to Washington on Tuesday, but the trip was canceled at the last minute by Netanyahu, the newspaper writes.

"According to a source familiar with the issue, the phone call between Biden and Netanyahu was already scheduled before the deterioration of relations between Netanyahu and Galant," the publication points out.

US officials said that Biden and Netanyahu would also discuss the wars in Lebanon and Gaza. The White House declined to comment.

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