Tel Aviv: Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu spoke on the phone with US President Biden on Wednesday. This is the first time in the last 50 days that there has been a conversation between the two leaders. This conversation is considered important to respond to Iran’s missile attack. Israel has said that its retaliatory attack will be devastating. But Biden has expressed opposition to targeting Iran’s nuclear or oil production sites. Netanyahu had prevented his Defense Minister Yoav Galant from visiting the US until he could talk to Biden. The US President has long been disappointed with Netanyahu’s handling of the war in Gaza as well as Israel’s war in Lebanon. Also regretted that there was no strategy to end the conflict. But the White House described the talks on Wednesday as direct and productive and the Prime Minister’s Office said the talks were positive. During this time, Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris was also listening to the call.
Trump had called
The White House readout did not provide any information about a US stance on a possible Israeli retaliatory strike against Iran. However, in a recent conversation, Biden had said that he is providing all possible help to Israel. According to the Prime Minister’s Office, Trump called Netanyahu last week and “congratulated him on Israel’s determined operations against Hezbollah.”
‘There will be a sudden attack on Iran’
Israel’s Defense Minister Yoav Galant said on Wednesday that an attack by Israel on Iran would be ‘deadly’ and ‘shocking’. Gallant said that a strong response will be given to the recent missile attack by Iran. A statement issued by Gallant’s office said that Iran would be shocked by the Israeli attack. Without giving any details, the Defense Minister said, ‘They will not be able to understand what happened and how it happened.’ Last week, Iran fired several missiles at Israel, which has further increased the tension between the two countries.
(With agency input.)