Gallant’s trip to the US was reportedly canceled by Netanyahu on condition he speak with the US President first on his country’s response to Iran’s missile attack.
The Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant canceled on Wednesday his planned trip to the United States amid Israeli media reports that Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu wanted to speak first with American President Joe Biden, Reuters news agency reported.
According to Reuters, the Pentagon announced the cancelation of the visit but refrained to comment on the topic referring reporters to Israel’s Defense Ministry.
“We were just informed that Minister Gallant will be postponing his trip to Washington,” Pentagon spokesperson Sabrina Singh was quoted by Reuters as saying in a press briefing.
A US Defense Department spokesperson announced that the Israeli defense minister was scheduled to depart from Israel on Tuesday night, and meet Wednesday with the US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and the US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan, Reuters reported.
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The Times of Israel said that the planned visit was postponed hours before the departure of Gallant because Netanyahu “set last-minute conditions for his approval of the visit.”
The Israeli newspaper cited several Israeli reports that indicated that Netanyahu blocked Gallant’s visit “because he wanted to speak with US President Joe Biden about Israel’s planned retaliation against Iran before the defense minister departed.”
According to the same paper, a report by Israel’s Channel 12 news indicated that the Israeli prime minister “was also conditioning the trip on the security cabinet first approving Israel’s planned response to Iran’s ballistic missile attack last week.”
Gallant was reportedly to travel with senior Israeli Defense Ministry officials to discuss issues in relation to Israel’s response to Iran’s missile attack on Israel and its defense in case of an Iranian response and the deployment of US forces in the region.
Unnamed officials in Netanyahu’s office were quoted by Channel 12 as saying that “there was no point in Gallant making the trip until the cabinet approved the response to Iran, since that’s the key issue he was supposed to discuss with Austin,” the Times of Israel said.
For its part, the White House also declined to comment on the surprise cancelation referring all questions to the Israeli government.
Despite previous talk of a possible phone call between Biden and Netanyahu since the end of September, Reuters reported today citing what it said “a person familiar with the matter” that the two men are scheduled to speak on Wednesday on the anticipated Israeli strike on Iran.
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According to the Times of Israel, the two men have not spoken for nearly 50 days.
Israeli Channel 12 news has reported that the Israeli prime minister has been waiting “for what he thinks was a promised call from Biden for the past 10 days,” the Times of Israel said.
The US president revealed on October 4 that Israel has not yet decided on its response to Iran, adding that “he would think about alternatives to striking Iranian oil fields if he were in Israel’s shoes.”
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These developments come in conjunction with statements made by Israeli opposition leader Yair Lapid and other former officials who have urged Benjamin Netanyahu’s government to strike Iranian oil and nuclear sites.
Meanwhile, Iran on Tuesday vowed a “crushing response” to any Israeli attacks on the country.
Speaking to the Israeli Ynet News on Monday, Lapid argued that Iran’s economy was its “Achille’s heel”, claiming it was on the brink of collapse.
“There’s a complex discussion with the Americans about this, and I understand why they don’t want a spike in oil prices just before the U.S. elections. But that doesn’t change the fact that Israel has its own interests and perspectives,” Lapid was quoted as saying.
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His remarks come nearly a week after Iran launched a ballistic missile attack on Israel, striking dozens of targets.
Also on Tuesday, former Israeli prime minister Naftali Bennett urged Israel to strike Iran’s nuclear sites.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi vowed a “crushing response” on Tuesday to any Israeli attacks against his country.
“We advise the Zionist regime (Israel) not to test Iran’s will,” he said at an event in Tehran attended by the ambassadors of Iraq, Yemen, Lebanon, and Syria, the Anadolu news agency reported.
“Any attack on Iran will be met with a crushing response,” he warned.
Iran is on high alert amid anticipation of an imminent response from Israel to a missile strike by Tehran on October 1, which came amid rising regional tensions over Israel’s ongoing war on the Gaza Strip, now in its second year.
The conflict has spread to Lebanon with Israel launching massive airstrikes across the country, which have killed 2119 people and injured over 10019 others since September 23.
(PC, Agencies)
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