Israel rebuffs call for restraint
Benjamin Netanyahu has shrugged off calls from the United States and Britain for restraint despite a direct appeal from Lord Cameron of Chipping Norton, the British foreign secretary, to avoid war with Iran.
The Israeli prime minister thanked allies for their “suggestions and advice” but insisted that Israel would do “whatever is necessary to defend itself”, adding: “We make our own decisions.”
Britain has engaged in frantic diplomacy to try to talk Israel down from a significant retaliation against Iran following the barrage last weekend of hundreds of drones and missiles.
The attacks were almost entirely intercepted by a joint Israeli, US, British, French and Jordanian operation.
Israel was on the verge of carrying out a retaliatory strike on Monday before a last-minute change of plans, according to Axios, the news website.
Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi vowed a “massive and harsh” response to even the “tiniest invasion” by Israel as he addressed a military parade outside Tehran yesterday.
After a call with British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak earlier this week and a face-to-face meeting with Cameron in Jerusalem, Netanyahu thanked Israel’s friends for their support in “words and deeds”.
However, speaking at a Cabinet meeting, he bridled at the suggestion that British and US lobbying would make a difference to Israel’s response. “I thank our friends for their support in defence of Israel; support in both words and deeds.
“They have all kinds of suggestions and advice, which I appreciate. However, I would like to clarify: we make our own decisions. The state of Israel will do whatever is necessary to defend itself.”
Netanyahu is under pressure from extreme-right ministers in his coalition to respond strongly to the attack.
Itamar Ben-Gvir, the security minister, has called for a “crushing” response and said the best way to deter Iran was for Israel to “go crazy”. Bezalel Smotrich, the finance minister, has called for a response that “resonates throughout the Middle East for generations”.
However, allies of Israel have tried to convince Netanyahu to avoid a full-blown war. US President Joe Biden has reportedly warned Netanyahu that the US would not support a strike on Iran.
Speaking in Jerusalem, British foreign minister David Cameron also urged restraint from Netanyahu after Iran signalled its willingness to end the tit-for-tat attacks that began when Israel struck the Iranian consulate in Damascus, killing 16 people, including a senior general of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, more than a fortnight ago.
“It’s clear the Israelis are making a decision to act. We hope they do so in a way that does as little to escalate this as possible, and in a way that is smart as well as tough.”
Cameron, now in Italy for a meeting of G7 foreign ministers, called for a strong package of sanctions against Iran before an expected announcement on measures targeting Iran’s drone and missile programme. – The Times