ISRAEL URGED TO ‘MOVE ON’ AFTER IRAN’S FAILED ATTACK
▶ West pushes for restraint as Netanyahu’s war cabinet meets to discuss options for retaliation
Israel’s western allies yesterday urged it to be “smart as well as tough” in its response to Iran’s thwarted attack at the weekend.
The US, Britain and Germany encouraged Israel to “contribute to de-escalation” after most of the drones and missiles launched by Iran were intercepted. Their calls for restraint came as Israel’s leaders considered how to react to Iran’s first direct attack on its soil.
British Foreign Secretary David Cameron said Israel should view the strike as an “almost total failure” that exposed Tehran’s “malign influence”.
Israel should “move on” to focus on its war with Hamas and its mission to free hostages from Gaza, Lord Cameron said. “We are urging them as friends to think with head as well as heart, to be smart as well as tough,” he added.
French President Emmanuel Macron said he would try to “convince Israel that we must not respond by escalating”.
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz similarly urged restraint and praised Israel’s “really impressive” defence against the strike. “It is a success that perhaps should not be squandered. That is why our advice is to contribute to de-escalation,” he said.
Israel’s war cabinet met yesterday to consider options that would be “painful” for Iran while avoiding all-out war, Israel’s Channel 12 reported.
Defence Minister Yoav Gallant reportedly told US Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin that Israel has no choice but to respond to Iran’s attack. Tehran’s Foreign Ministry claimed to have given advance warning of the attack in an effort to minimise casualties.
“Iran does not seek to develop tension in the region,” ministry spokesman Nasser Kanaani said yesterday.
However, the strike raised concerns of a broader confrontation in the Middle East, which diplomats have been
desperately working to avoid since the outbreak of the Israel-Gaza war in October.
A German Foreign Ministry spokesman said Iran’s use of drones, rockets and cruise missiles was “far from calibrated or restrained”.
British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said the impact of the attack on Israeli citizens and regional security “would have been catastrophic” had the weapons not been intercepted.
“Iran has once again shown its true colours. They are intent on sowing chaos in their own backyard, on further destabilising the Middle East,” Mr Sunak said.
“We want to see calmer heads prevail.
“We are directing all our diplomatic efforts to that end.”
The US said it shot down dozens of drones and missiles, supplementing Israel’s Iron Dome system and Arrow-2 and Arrow-3 interceptors.
Destroyed Iranian missiles were found throughout Iraq after dozens were intercepted above Baghdad, Najaf and the country’s northern Kurdish region, a source told The National.
US anti-missile systems at the Ain Al Asad airbase in western Iraq played a key role in shooting down the projectiles, the source added. Britain’s Royal Air Force shot down several drones as it stepped in to “backfill” US resources diverted from operations against ISIS.
Lord Cameron called it a “double defeat” for Iran because it was not only “an almost total failure, but also the rest of the world can now see what a malign influence they are in the region”.
Leaders of the G7 countries are considering further sanctions on Iran, which already faces an array of restrictive measures linked to its regional activities and domestic repression.
The White House has made it clear that it will not take any offensive action against Iran, while remaining committed to Israel’s defence.