Biden Tells Netanyahu To Refrain From Offensive Attacks After Iran Strikes: Report

Iran launched an unprecedented wave of more than 300 drones and missiles toward Israel on Saturday evening in retaliation for a deadly airstrike conducted by Israel in Syria two weeks ago.

After the attack, which was largely thwarted by Israel’s Iron Dome and allied military support, US President Joe Biden spoke with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and urged his Israeli counterpart to refrain from retaliatory attacks, multiple outlets reported Sunday morning

In a White House statement, Biden condemned the strikes in “the strongest possible terms” and said he reaffirmed to the Israeli Prime Minister his “ironclad commitment to the security of Israel.” 

The president also praised Israel’s “remarkable capacity to defend against and defeat even unprecedented attacks,” as the Iranian strikes were intercepted mainly by Israel’s air defense systems, with the help of the US. 

White House spokesman John Kirby called Israel’s response an “incredible military achievement” on Sunday and said that Biden “doesn’t believe” the situation needs to escalate into a broader war.

The president’s statement didn’t say whether he encouraged Netanyahu to refrain from retaliation, but according to one senior White House official who spoke anonymously to Axios, Biden’s message to his Israeli counterpart was basically, “You got a win. Take the win.” 

US officials familiar with the conversation told CNN that Biden also told Bibi that the US would not take part in any offensive action against Iran.

“Whether and how the Israelis will respond, that’s going to be up to them. We understand that and respect that,” Kirby said Sunday. “But the president’s been very clear: we don’t seek a war with Iran.”

In a statement posted on X, formerly Twitter, the Iranian Mission to the United Nations wrote that the strikes were direct retaliation for Israel’s April 1 attack on Iran’s embassy in Damascus, Syria, which killed two generals, and claimed that the “matter can be deemed concluded.” The Mission added that “should the Israeli regime make another mistake, Iran’s response will be considerably more severe,” warning the US to “STAY AWAY.”

It’s unclear, however, whether Netanyahu will ultimately heed Biden’s reported advice, as the two have been locked in increasingly public debates over Israel’s military operations in Gaza, where more than 30,000 Palestinians have been killed in the last six months. 

Last week, Biden called Netanyahu’s approach to the war a “mistake” after IDF strikes killed seven aid workers. The US president also continues to oppose a planned invasion of Rafah, a city in southern Gaza where 1.5 million Palestinians have taken refuge. Netanyahu continues to forge ahead and claimed last week that he’d set a date for the invasion.

Yet Biden’s call has at least had some effect: two Israeli officials, speaking anonymously to The New York Times, said that multiple members of Israel’s war cabinet were pushing for a retaliatory attack on Saturday but that it was called off after the Biden-Bibi call. On Sunday, war cabinet Minister Benny Gantz seemed to put the breaks on an immediate response, vowing to “build a regional coalition and exact the price from Iran, in the way and at the time that suits us.”

In his statement, Biden said he planned on convening a Sunday meeting with fellow members of the Group of Seven, a coalition of major industrialized democracies, to “coordinate a united diplomatic response” to Iran’s attack. My team will engage with their counterparts across the region,” Biden added. “And we will stay in close touch with Israel’s leaders.”