European leaders join call for Israel to exercise restraint
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 UK 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 firstever attack on Israel from its own soil. Almost all were intercepted by Israeli, U.S, UK, French and some Arab forces. The projectiles caused minor damage and only one person, a child, was reported as 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 is 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.”
Iran said its actions were a legitimate response to an April 1 attack on its diplomatic compound in Syria, for which it blamed Israel. That strike killed seven Iranian officers, including two generals.
Any reprisals by Israel should be limited to military interests and done in “a very calibrated manner to put an end to the back and forth,” said Macron, who said he plans to soon talk to Netanyahu.
Scholz will also speak with Netanyahu as soon as today in an effort to prevent a further escalation, according to a person familiar with his plans who spoke on the condition of anonymity. On their trips to the Middle East later this week Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock and the UK’s David Cameron will both visit Israel, according to the Israeli public broadcaster Kan News.
“We’re very anxious to avoid escalation and to say to our friends in Israel it’s a time to think with with head as well as heart,” Cameron said to Times Radio on Monday.
Macron spoke at the Grand Palais, an exhibition hall in central Paris that will be the site of the Olympic fencing and taekwondo competitions. Macron said he would like a truce in place for the games, which start in late July.
“We’re going to do everything we can to have an Olympic truce,” he said. “We’re obviously thinking of Israel, Gaza, all the theaters. It’s an opportunity that I’m going to try to involve a lot of our partners in. The Chinese president is coming to Paris in a few weeks. I’m asking him to help me.”