2024-04-12T14:31:57+00:00
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/ The leaders of the US Department of Defense, including the Secretary of Defense, Lloyd Austin, expressed on Friday their dissatisfaction with Israel for not notifying it of the attack on the Iranian consulate building in the Syrian capital, Damascus, before launching it in early April, an escalation they see. It increases the risks for American forces in the Middle East, and also increases tension between the two allied countries.
The Washington Post quoted American officials as saying that Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and other senior Pentagon officials believe that Israel should have informed them of the attack in advance, given its potential repercussions on American forces and interests in the region.
One of the officials stated that Austin “complained directly to his Israeli counterpart, Yoav Galant, about the matter during a phone call conducted on April 3,” but the text of the Pentagon report on the call did not reveal these details, as it merely said that Austin “confirmed the support of the United States.” To defend Israel against a range of regional threats.
The officials pointed out that advance knowledge would have allowed the Pentagon to bolster the defenses of American personnel and position assets, including warships carrying missile defense systems, in a way that could help protect both Israel and American forces from a possible Iranian response.