President Joe Biden privately demanded in a “tough” call on Aug. 1 that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu stop escalating tensions in Southwest Asia and move immediately toward a Gaza hostage and ceasefire deal, according to two unnamed officials. Writing in Axios yesterday, Israeli journalist Barak Ravid reports that Biden and his top aides are deeply frustrated by the fallout from Israel’s assassinations in Beirut and Tehran, which took place less than a week after Netanyahu’s first discussion with the Oval Office in four years.
While U.S. officials aren’t mourning the deaths of Hezbollah military commander Fuad Shukr and Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh, “they feel that Netanyahu kept Biden in the dark over his plans to carry out the assassinations, after leaving the impression last week that he was attentive to the President’s request to focus on getting a Gaza deal,” writes Ravid.
One U.S. official said Biden complained to Netanyahu during their phone call on Aug. 1 that the two had just spoken last week in the Oval Office about securing the hostage deal, but instead Netanyahu went ahead with the assassination in Tehran. Biden then told Netanyahu the U.S. will help Israel defeat an Iranian attack, but after that he expects no more escalation from the Israeli side and immediate movement toward a hostage deal, the U.S. official said.
Biden also warned Netanyahu that if he escalates again, he shouldn’t count on the U.S. to bail him out, the U.S. official added.
Whatever the truth is about Biden’s anger, his administration is going ahead with protecting Netanyahu from the consequences of his own escalatory actions. The Pentagon announced last night the movement of more U.S. air and naval forces into the region to defend Israel from potential Iranian retaliation for the assassination of Haniyeh. According to a statement issued by the Pentagon, Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin “ordered adjustments to U.S. military posture designed to improve U.S. force protection, to increase support for the defense of Israel, and to ensure the United States is prepared to respond to various contingencies.” The adjustments include the deploying of the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln from the Western Pacific to U.S. Central Command as well as additional cruisers and destroyers. Austin has also ordered the deployment of a fighter squadron, though the statement says nothing about where it’s coming from or where in the region it’ll be landing.
Earlier in the day, Pentagon deputy press secretary Sabrina Singh told reporters Austin had spoken with Gallant by phone. He “reiterated ironclad support for Israel’s security and informed the minister of additional measures to include ongoing and future defensive force posture changes that the department will take to support the defense of Israel,” Singh said. Austin “highlighted that further escalation is not inevitable and that all countries in the region would benefit from a de-escalation in tensions, including through completing a Gaza ceasefire and hostage release deal.”
