Amid Reports of Bad Blood Between Biden and Bibi, the Leaders Speak as Attack Against Iran Seems Imminent

After having no contact since August, President Biden and Prime Minister Netanyahu spoke on the phone Wednesday as retaliatory strikes by Israel against Iran appear to be nearing. Will the Bibi-Biden bad blood boil over?The 45-minute phone call was joined at Washington by Vice President Harris, and on the Israeli side by seven of the prime minister’s military and diplomatic advisers. The conversation was “direct” and “productive,” the White House press secretary, Karine Jean-Pierre, told reporters, adding that the two leaders “continued their discussion on a response to Iran’s attack.” Following the October 1 attack, in which the Islamic Republic launched nearly 200 ballistic missiles at Israel, Mr. Biden said he would “soon” speak with Mr. Netanyahu. Yet, for more than a week the call failed to materialize.On Tuesday, Mr. Netanyahu barred the Israeli defense minister, Yoav Gallant, from traveling to Washington for a Pentagon visit that had been scheduled for Wednesday. Mr. Gallant, who has been at odds with the prime minister, initiated the visit, and Secretary Austin was looking forward to seeing him, the Pentagon deputy spokeswoman, Sabrina Singh, told reporters.Mr. Netanyahu reportedly said that Mr. Biden needed to contact him before he could authorize the defense minister’s trip. He also said that Mr. Gallant would go to the Pentagon only after his cabinet authorized the timing and scope of the expected Israeli operation in Iran.As the cabinet is not expected to meet before Thursday, and as Jews mark Yom Kippur Friday night, the earliest likely Pentagon visit, if at all, would occur next week. After Iran attacked Israel with hundreds of missiles and drones back in April, and America and other countries helped to ensure a minimal damage, Mr. Biden reportedly instructed Mr. Netanyahu to “take the win” and “do nothing” in retaliation. Newly released excerpts from Bob Woodward’s new book, “War,” detail profanity-laced conversations and deep mistrust between the two leaders. “The Biden administration has in recent weeks grown increasingly distrustful of what the Israeli government says about its military and diplomatic plans in the multi-front war it is fighting,” Axios reported Tuesday, citing four unidentified Washington officials. While Mr. Netanayhu was visiting New York last month, Israeli planes were in the air before American officials were notified of an operation that killed Hezbollah’s chief, Hassan Nasrallah. Israelis, at the same time, are expressing frustration as Washington officials leak details of coming operations to American press outlets. Mr. Biden, and the vice president who hopes to succeed him, are concerned that a Mideast October surprise could burst the region in flames. The Israeli government, on the other hand, sees a rare window of opportunity to cripple the Islamic Republic, which has orchestrated the year-long assault against the Jewish state. Israel’s expected strike against Iran will be “targeted, lethal, and mostly surprising,” Mr. Gallant told reporters Wednesday, adding that the Iranians “won’t believe what happened to them.” Unlike in April, when Mr. Netanayhu heeded Washington’s call for restraint, Israel now seems ready to hit hard. “In view of its restraint in April, for Israel a heavy reprisal this time is critical,” a veteran Mideast watcher at Haifa University, Amatzia Bar’am, says. “Options are military targets, like Iran’s missile force, economic ones like oil infrastructure, government offices and shelters, or even Iran’s nuclear project.” With Israel relentlessly and successfully assaulting the Islamic Republic’s most lethal proxy army, Hezbollah, Tehran seems to fear the worst. In recent days Iranian officials have increasingly threatened Arab neighbors with reprisal if they allow their airspace or air fields to be used by the Israelis. Yet, “if Israel attacks, and if Iran retaliates against the Gulf states, this may force America to do the improbable: attack Iran’s nuclear assets,” Mr. Bar’am says. This might temper the Iranian retaliation, he adds, but it also poses a dilemma for Israel, which has to decide “how to strike without pushing Iran too far.”Mr. Biden is attempting to impress on Mr. Netanyahu that going too far could further cool Israel’s ties with America. Yet, at several points during the war, Israeli military successes — including its invasion of Rafah and the serial decapitation of Hezbollah’s leaders — have forced Washington to change course. Most recently, after Hezbollah said on Monday that it was ready for talks, the administration dropped its initial call for a 21-day cease-fire. Instead, it backed the Israel Defense Force’s land incursion into Lebanese territory.The world and Israel spent a year calling on Hezbollah to stop firing at the north of Israel, the Department of State spokesman, Natthew Miller, said Tuesday. “Now that Hezbollah is on the back foot and is getting battered, they’ve changed their tune and want a cease-fire,” he said. For now, Mr. Biden’s political needs, as well as his instinctive opposition to military action, seem to be giving way to Mr. Netanyahu’s increasingly assertive action on a war he sees as existential for Israel. Some Israelis, though, fear a sharp White House shift, and even worsened relations, after the November election.

Amid Reports of Bad Blood Between Biden and Bibi, the Leaders Speak as Attack Against Iran Seems Imminent

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