(Bloomberg) -- A US visit by Israel’s defense chief — billed as a chance for the allies to craft a common strategy in a face-off against Iran — has been postponed, a Pentagon spokesperson said Tuesday.
An Israeli official, who asked not to be identified discussing the decision, cited last-minute objections to the trip by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, who has sparred with Netanyahu about the conduct of the yearlong war in Gaza and on other fronts, had been due to fly to Washington for talks on Wednesday about “ongoing Middle East security developments,” the Pentagon had announced.
Those were to have included Israel’s threatened riposte to a ballistic missile salvo by Iran last week. President Joe Biden has urged Israel not to attack Iran’s nuclear program or oil infrastructure, amid concerns either move could trigger a wider conflict that drags in Washington, pushes up energy prices and hits the global economy.
But hours before Gallant’s departure, the Israeli official said, Netanyahu decided the defense minister wouldn’t go and meet with US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin unless the security cabinet first convened to agree on an Iran plan. Netanyahu also wanted to speak to Biden first, said the official, who requested anonymity given the sensitivity of the matter. Similar reports were carried by several Israeli media outlets. Netanyahu and Gallant spokespeople had no immediate comment.
Biden and Netanyahu are expected to speak by telephone on Wednesday, according to a person familiar with the plans who was granted anonymity to discuss them.
Sabrina Singh, a Pentagon spokesperson, told reporters that Austin and Gallant are “in touch pretty frequently so a call could always be scheduled later today or later this week.”
Netanyahu has said Iran made “a big mistake” in firing the barrage of 200 ballistic missiles, which caused little damage, with one fatality in the West Bank, but hit some air bases and forced millions of Israelis into shelters. Amir Ohana, speaker of Israel’s parliament, told visiting European lawmakers that the retaliation would be “significant.”
Iran warned it would respond in turn with a more powerful assault. “We advise Israel not to test our will,” Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said Tuesday in a speech in Tehran, ahead of a regional tour of countries including Saudi Arabia to boost efforts to reign in Israel’s military campaign in Lebanon.
Central Intelligence Agency head William Burns said Monday there’s a “real danger of a further regional escalation” and the Israeli leadership is taking into account the White House’s concerns. Yet Netanyahu hasn’t shown a willingness to follow US advice in the various conflicts to date, ignoring calls from Washington for a cease-fire in Lebanon ahead of the assassination of Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah last month.
The US has similarly failed to broker a cease-fire between Israel and Hamas in Gaza after months of on-off talks.
The standoff between Israel and Iran — arch-foes in the region — comes as fighting escalates on multiple fronts a year after Hamas militants launched a deadly attack on southern Israel last Oct. 7, triggering the ongoing war in Gaza.
The Israel Defense Forces said Tuesday a fourth army division is being deployed into Lebanon a week after the start of a ground operation against Hezbollah, the most powerful of Tehran’s allied militias. Israeli jets have carried out a heavy bombardment of Beirut suburbs and other areas, and have eliminated most of Hezbollah’s leaders.
An Israeli military spokesman warned on X that Lebanese civilians should avoid the coastline south of the Awali River, about halfway between Beirut and the Israeli border, due to maritime operations against the militant group.
Hezbollah’s deputy chief Naim Qasem said that, while the group supports efforts to secure a cease-fire, it isn’t backing down.
“What’s been said by the enemy about our capabilities is an illusion,” he said in a televised address. “Our fighters are on the front, we’re solid.”
The IDF said about 135 projectiles were fired by Hezbollah from Lebanon into Israel on Tuesday, and TV footage showed rocket fire over Haifa. A municipality spokesperson said the attack was the biggest so far on the country’s third-biggest city.
More than 1,500 people have been killed in Lebanon by Israel’s bombings in recent weeks and about one million have been displaced, according to local officials. The IDF says 10 soldiers have died in the campaign, which Netanyahu has said is essential to return displaced Israelis to their homes in northern communities.
Netanyahu also said Israel has degraded Hezbollah capabilities and killed thousands of its militants, including leader Hassan Nasrallah, his replacement and the replacement of his replacement,
Israel said Monday it intercepted most of a barrage of rockets fired by Hamas toward Tel Aviv. Israel bombed a number of targets in Gaza on the same day.
Hamas Fires Rockets at Israel, Conflict Continues (Video)
The US and many of its allies consider Hamas and Hezbollah terrorist groups.
In a sign that opinion inside Israel is hardening, opposition leader Yair Lapid said the country should ignore US objections and strike oil facilities in Iran, an OPEC member that exports 1.7 million barrels of crude a day.
“This is Iran’s Achilles’ heel, a blow to its economy — the Iranian economy is in a very precarious state,” Lapid, a former prime minister, told the public broadcaster Kan. The government should tell its US allies that “Israel has its own interests,” he said.
--With assistance from Arsalan Shahla, Dana Khraiche, Golnar Motevalli, Alisa Odenheimer, Katrina Manson, Akayla Gardner and Jenny Leonard.
(Updates with Biden-Netanyahu call expected on Wednesday, in sixth paragraph.)
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