The Biden administration loudly announced today that the U.S. will defend Israel ``against all threats from Iran,” after the Israeli assassination of Hamas’s political leader Ismail Haniyah in Iran kicked off an international firestorm of protests. The White House issued a statement today which reads in full:
“President Biden spoke today with Prime Minister Netanyahu of Israel. The President reaffirmed his commitment to Israel’s security against all threats from Iran, including its proxy terrorist groups Hamas, Hezbollah, and the Houthis. The President discussed efforts to support Israel’s defense against threats, including against ballistic missiles and drones, to include new defensive U.S. military deployments. Together with this commitment to Israel’s defense, the President stressed the importance of ongoing efforts to de-escalate broader tensions in the region. Vice President Harris also joined the call.”
Earlier, Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin claimed that the U.S. had no prior knowledge of the hit against Haniyeh yesterday, but also failed to denounce it, or acknowledge that it likely means that Israel also killed the ceasefire negotiations that Haniyeh was heading up on the Hamas side. Secretary of State Tony Blinken had the same line yesterday.
Austin, however, was clear that, should Israel be attacked in response to its aggressive actions, the U.S. will be there to defend it. “[I]f Israel is attacked, we certainly will help,” he told reporters traveling with him yesterday in Subic Bay, the Philippines. “And Israel, you see, you saw us do that in April. You can expect to see us do that again. But we don’t want to see any of that happen. We’re going to work hard to make sure that, you know, we’re doing things to help take temperature down and address issues through diplomatic means.”
Later, Austin spoke to Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant by phone. “They discussed the threats to Israel posed by a range of Iranian-backed terrorist groups, including Lebanese Hezbollah,” the Pentagon readout reports. “Secretary Austin reaffirmed his unwavering commitment to Israel’s security and right to self-defense.
As if to put a point on Austin’s promise to defend Israel no matter what it does, numerous reports have emerged over the last couple of days of as many as a dozen U.S. warships in the region. The U.S. Naval Institute Fleet and Marine Tracker for July 29 reports that the assault ship USS Wasp is in the Eastern Mediterranean Sea following a port visit to Souda Bay in Crete. The Wasp leads a three-ship amphibious-ready group that includes the USS New York and the USS Oak Hill, but the whereabouts of those other two ships is not reported. Together the three ships are carrying 2,200 Marines of the 24th Marine Expeditionary Unit. There are also likely at least two U.S. Navy destroyers in the Red Sea, but they’re not named.
On the other side of the Arabian Peninsula, the aircraft carrier USS Theodore Roosevelt is in the Persian Gulf, escorted by the cruiser USS Lake Erie and the destroyers USS John S. McCain, USS Halsey, and the USS Daniel Inouye.
