■ Israel has to avoid escalation with Iran, French president Macron said.
European leaders joined the U.S. in pushing for Israel to restrain its response to Iran’s drone and missile attack, in a bid to allay a wider military conflict.
French President Emmanuel Macron said Israel must avoid worsening the situation in the Middle East. German Chancellor Olaf Scholz made similar comments while visiting China, and both his foreign minister and that of the U.K. will travel to Israel later this week.
The U.S., Europe, and Arab states are trying to convince Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that an aggressive reaction to Iran’s assault on Saturday night would harm Israel’s interests. They’re also concerned it could push up oil prices, hindering central banks’ attempts to slow inflation.
Iran fired more than 300 drones and missiles in its first-ever attack on Israel from its own soil. Almost all were intercepted by Israeli, U.S., U.K., French and some Arab forces. The projectiles caused minor damage and only one person, a child, was reported injured.
Some Israeli ministers have said the country needs to carry out a harsh attack to deter Iran from any repeat assault. Netanyahu hasn’t laid out what he plans to do, beyond saying Israel will respond in some way.
The Israeli military has presented the government with a spectrum of possible actions, Peter Lerner, a spokesman, said in a Bloomberg Radio interview. “We need to be patient and understand that the situation here is very fragile,” he added. The Israeli cabinet was next scheduled to meet on Monday afternoon.
“We’re going to do everything we can to avoid flare-ups, and try to convince Israel that we shouldn’t respond by escalating, but rather by isolating Iran,” Macron said Monday in an interview with France’s BFM TV and RMC radio.
Both he and Scholz condemned Iran’s actions. Macron said France may tighten sanctions against the Islamic Republic and put more pressure on it to curb its nuclear activities.
They and other Group of Seven members spoke with one another on Sunday and said they would make a diplomatic effort to stop “an uncontrollable regional escalation.”