Israeli Defense Minister: We’ve no choice but to respond to the Iranian attack
Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Galant said to his US counterpart, Lloyd Austin, that “Israel has no choice but to respond to the Iranian attack”.
On Monday evening, the Israeli Walla website quoted a US official and another informed source, without naming them, as saying that “Gallant told Austin in a phone call, Sunday, that Israel has no choice but to respond to the unprecedented attack launched by Iran with missiles and drones”.
Gallant added that “Israel won’t be able to accept a new reality in which ballistic missiles are fired at it and it doesn’t respond”.
Gallant stressed during the call that his “Israel won’t be able to accept a situation in which Iran responds with an attack from its territory on Israel every time Israel launches attacks in Syria”.
According to Walla website, “Austin, in turn, conveyed to Gallant a message similar to the one that US President Joe Biden conveyed to Prime Minister Netanyahu during their conversation on Saturday,” stressing that “everything must be done to avoid further escalation in the region”.
The Office of the Israeli Minister of Defense and the Pentagon refused to comment on what was reported by the Walla website.
While the official statement of the Israeli Defense Minister’s Office regarding the phone call stated that Gallant expressed “his great appreciation for the cooperation and coordination between the Israeli army and the US army to repel the Iranian attack”.
For its part, the US Defense Department said in a statement about the same conversation that Austin assured Gallant that although the United States isn’t interested in escalation, it will continue to take all necessary steps to protect Israel and the US forces in the region.
According to Walla website, the Biden administration and some of Israel’s allies in the West are calling on the Netanyahu government not to rush to launch a counterattack, for fear that this will lead to a regional escalation.
US officials previously indicated that Biden told Netanyahu during their conversation, on Saturday, that he must study cautiously and strategically the method of response, and suggested to him that he be content with the victory represented in containing the Iranian attack.
Israel continues to study ways to respond to the Iranian attack, as on Monday, the Israeli war cabinet meeting was held that lasted 3 hours to discuss the issue without reaching a decision, and it is expected to resume on Tuesday.
