WASHINGTON — The Biden administration believes it has received assurances from Israel that it will not hit Iranian nuclear or oil sites as it looks to hit back after Iran’s missile barrage Two American officials said this on Tuesday earlier this month.
The government also believes that sending a US Terminal High Altitude Area Defense battery to Israel and about 100 soldiers to operate it has allayed some of Israel’s concerns about possible Iranian retaliation and general security issues.
The Pentagon announced this on Sunday the use of THAAD to help strengthen Israel’s air defenses after Iran’s ballistic missile attacks on Israel in April and October, saying it was authorized at the direction of President Joe Biden.
However, the US officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss private diplomatic discussions, cautioned that the assurance is not ironclad and that circumstances could change. The officials also noted that Israel’s track record of keeping past promises has been mixed and often reflects domestic Israeli policies that have upended Washington’s expectations.
The most recent example of this came last month when US officials were told by their Israeli counterparts that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu would welcome a US-French-led temporary ceasefire initiative for Lebanon, after which Israel would launch a massive airstrike launch that killed people. Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah two days later.
Netanyahu’s office said in a statement that “we listen to the opinions of the United States, but we will make our final decisions based on our national interests.”
The Middle East has braced for an expected response from Israel after Iran launched about 180 ballistic missiles on October 1, which the United States helped fend off. The tit-for-tat attacks and uncertainty over whether Israel could attack strategically important energy and nuclear sites in Iran have raised fears of an escalation into an all-out regional war.
Israel’s offensive against Iran-backed Hamas militants in Gaza has expanded to a ground invasion of Lebanon targeting Hezbollah, another Iranian ally that has fired on Israel since the conflict in Gaza began a year ago in solidarity with Hamas.
Biden has said he would not support a retaliatory strike by Israel on sites linked to Tehran nuclear program and urged Israel to consider alternatives to hit Iran’s oil sector. Such a strike could impact the global oil market and push up pump prices just before the US presidential election.
Biden and Netanyahu spoke by phone last week for the first time in seven weeks, while Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin spoke regularly with his Israeli counterpart, Yoav Gallant.
The Pentagon said in a readout of a call on Sunday that the US reaffirmed its support for Israel’s security but urged the country to guarantee the protection of UN peacekeepers in southern Lebanon, moving from military operations towards a diplomatic solution and “expressed their concern about the dire humanitarian situation in Gaza and stressed the need for swift steps to address it.”
The White House National Security Council declined to confirm that Netanyahu offered Biden any assurances on targets.
“Our commitment to Israel’s defense is rock-solid,” the White House National Security Council said in a statement. “We will not discuss private diplomatic discussions and would like to refer you to the Israeli government to discuss their own potential military operations.”
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AP reporter Julia Frankel contributed from Jerusalem.