We’ll make our own decisions, says Israel after Cameron jets in
ISRAEL yesterday rejected David Cameron’s plea to show restraint in response to Iran’s missile assault.
Speaking after talks with the Foreign Secretary in Jerusalem, Israel’s Benjamin Netanyahu said his country would do ‘whatever is necessary’ to deal with the threat from Tehran.
Lord Cameron had appealed to the PM to be ‘smart as well as tough’ and respond in a way that does not escalate the crisis in the Middle East. In a phone call on Tuesday night, Rishi Sunak also asked the Israeli leader to let ‘calm heads prevail’.
Speaking in the Commons yesterday, the Prime Minister said he had told Mr Netanyahu ‘ that significant escalation is not in anyone’s interest’.
US President Joe Biden has also urged the Israeli PM to ‘take the win’ from Iran’s botched attack, which resulted in almost all of the 350 missiles and drones fired at Israel being shot down.
But Mr Netanyahu, who has spent the days since the attack on Saturday night plotting Israel’s response, brushed aside calls for restraint. He said he had thanked both Lord Cameron and Germany’s Annalena Baerbock for their country’s support for Israel.
But he told his Cabinet that despite ‘all sorts of suggestions and advice’ from Israel’s allies ‘I want to be clear: we will make our decisions ourselves’. ‘The state of Israel will do whatever is necessary to defend itself,’ he added.
Lord Cameron later said it was now clear that Israel was making the decision to act against Iran.
Speaking to broadcasters in Jerusalem, he said: ‘It is right to have made our views clear about what should happen next, but it is clear the Israelis are making the 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, as I said yesterday, is smart as well as tough.’
Ministers are now braced to see how hard Israel decides to act against its deadly foes in Tehran.
RAF jets helped shoot down Iranian drones on Saturday night, as part of a successful mission that also involved planes from the US and Jordan to supplement Israel’s formidable missile defence systems. But Downing Street has indicated Britain will not assist with any military reprisals Israel attempts against Iran.
Lord Cameron will travel to Capri, in Italy, today for a meeting of G7 foreign ministers to discuss a diplomatic response to Iran. Allies are considering a range of sanctions, which could include a ban on Iranian airlines landing in the UK and a clampdown on Iranian banks operating in the City.
But Lord Cameron is resisting pressure to designate Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps as a terrorist organisation. The IRGC is viewed by security experts as central to Iran’s malign actions in the Middle East and beyond.
‘Smart as well as tough’