Three U.S. officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss security issues, said Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and other senior defense officials believed Israel should have informed them in advance because of the implications of the strike for U.S. troops and interests in the region. Knowing in advance would have allowed the Pentagon to strengthen U.S. personnel defenses and position its assets, including warships with onboard missile defense systems, to protect Israel and U.S. troops from possible attack. Iranian response.
Austin complained directly to his Israeli counterpart, Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, in a call April 3, one of the U.S. officials said. A Pentagon account of the conversation did not reveal that detail, saying only that Austin “reiterated U.S. support for Israel’s defense against a range of regional threats.”
The Israeli embassy in Washington did not immediately comment on the exchange.
This episode adds to the already high tensions between Washington and its closest ally in the Middle East over the Israeli campaign against Hamas militants in the Gaza Strip, and highlights a communication deficit. U.S. officials have stepped up criticism of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s handling of the war and Israel’s failure to protect civilians and ensure Gazans have adequate access to food, water and medical care.
Aid officials say hunger and disease are increasing in the densely populated Gaza Strip, where Palestinian officials say more than 30,000 people have been killed in six months of Israeli military operations. Israel launched its efforts to destroy Hamas following the group’s attack in Israel on October 7, which killed 1,200 people and led to the kidnapping of more than 250 others.
President Biden, facing growing pressure from Democrats and global allies over U.S. support for Israel’s Gaza campaign, has threatened to change his administration’s policy toward Israel unless Netanyahu’s government do not provide proof. improves the living conditions of civilians and ensures that a planned offensive in southern Gaza will not worsen the situation.
U.S. officials say no decisions have been made on what changes might come if Israel does not heed their warnings, including whether the administration might impose conditions on U.S. military aid. But they say Israeli leaders are well aware that public opinion around the world and in the United States is opposed to his campaign.
The Biden administration immediately distanced itself from the attack on the Iranian compound in Damascus, what Tehran declared was particularly obvious because it hit a diplomatic facility. Israel has not claimed responsibility for the attack.
And although U.S. officials have openly expressed dissatisfaction with the Israeli government’s handling of the Gaza war, they say the United States will stand with the Jewish state and help it defend itself.
Gen. Michael “Erik” Kurilla, head of U.S. Central Command, was in Israel on Thursday, said Maj. Gen. Patrick Ryder, a Pentagon spokesman. The U.S. commitment to Israel’s security against threats from Iran and its proxies, he added, is “ironclad, and I’ll leave it at that.”
Israel has taken steps that suggest it is preparing for Iran’s response, including ending furloughs for reservists and strengthening air defense units.
Gallant wrote on social media Thursday that he spoke with Austin again and “detailed Israel’s willingness and preparations to defend our citizens.” Israel, Gallant said, “will not tolerate an Iranian attack on its territory. A direct Iranian attack would require an appropriate Israeli response against Iran.
The Pentagon’s readout of their call indicates that Austin conveyed to Gallant that “Israel can count on the full support of the United States to defend Israel against Iranian attacks.”
Those killed in Damascus the strike included Mohammad Reza Zahedi, described as a key figure in Iranian activities in Lebanon and Syria. The attack marked a significant advance from the series of strikes that Israel and Lebanese Hezbollah, the most powerful of a network of Iranian-backed militias in the region, have exchanged since October 7.
UN Secretary-General António Guterres condemned the strike, citing “the inviolability of diplomatic and consular premises.” Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei vowed that his country would make Israel “regret this crime and similar acts.”
US officials feared Damascus this strike could reignite attacks by Iranian proxies against U.S. military personnel in Iraq, Syria or elsewhere in the Middle East, and upend their goal of ensuring that skirmishes between Israel and Hezbollah and attacks by other Iranian proxies such as Yemen’s Houthi rebels must not tip the region into a real conflagration.
U.S. officials hope to maintain the uneasy détente that has taken hold with militias in Iraq and Syria after the Pentagon’s targeting of a senior militia leader in Baghdad and a wave of airstrikes on other sites in Iraq and Syria that U.S. officials say have been used by Iranian forces and affiliates. These strikes follow a drone attack that killed three American soldiers at a base in Jordan.
While Iran has said it holds the United States responsible for Israeli actions, including the strike on its facilities in Damascus, it is unclear whether Tehran would attempt to take action directly against the United States. United in response, or would focus solely on Israel.
In 2020, following an American drone strike which killed prominent people Iranian military leader Qasem Soleimani and Tehran launched ballistic missiles at a base in western Iraq. American forces. No one was killed, but more than 100 people suffered head injuries.
The Pentagon expanded its presence in the Middle East after the October 7 attacks, including taking the unusual step of temporarily positioning two aircraft carriers in the region and sending ships from an amphibious group off the coast of Israel.
washingtonpost
