The White House readout of President Joe Biden’s phone call Wednesday with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu — their first since August — omitted any discussion of what Israel might do to retaliate against Iran.
As Breitbart News reported, the call lasted between 30-50 minutes, and included Vice President Kamala Harris, as well as Secretary of State Antony Blinken. It came as Israel prepares to respond to Iran’s ballistic missile attack last week, during which it fired 200 such missiles, over 10% of which broke through Israel’s missile defense systems.
The readout condemns the missile attack, but says nothing about what Israel might do to respond to Iran.
The full text, as published by the White House, follows:
President Biden spoke this morning with Prime Minister Netanyahu of Israel. Vice President Harris joined the call. The President affirmed his ironclad commitment to Israel’s security. He condemned unequivocally Iran’s ballistic missile attack against Israel on October 1st. On Lebanon, the President emphasized the need for a diplomatic arrangement to safely return both Lebanese and Israeli civilians to their homes on both sides of the Blue Line. The President affirmed Israel’s right to protect its citizens from Hezbollah, which has fired thousands of missiles and rockets into Israel over the past year alone, while emphasizing the need to minimize harm to civilians, in particular in the densely populated areas of Beirut. On Gaza, the leaders discussed the urgent need to renew diplomacy to release the hostages held by Hamas. The President also discussed the humanitarian situation in Gaza and the imperative to restore access to the north, including by reinvigorating the corridor from Jordan immediately. They agreed to remain in close contact over the coming days both directly and through their national security teams.
Amid silence about potential plans for responding to Iran, speculation flourished on social media. Biden said last week that Israel should not attack Iran’s nuclear facilities, or its oil and gas facilities. Israeli defense minister Yoav Gallant said Wednesday said that Israel’s response to Iran would be “powerful, precise and above all — surprising.”
Netanyahu’s office did not release its version of the call.
Joel B. Pollak is Senior Editor-at-Large at Breitbart News and the host of Breitbart News Sunday on Sirius XM Patriot on Sunday evenings from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. ET (4 p.m. to 7 p.m. PT). He is the author of The Agenda: What Trump Should Do in His First 100 Days, available for pre-order on Amazon. He is also the author of The Trumpian Virtues: The Lessons and Legacy of Donald Trump’s Presidency, now available on Audible. He is a winner of the 2018 Robert Novak Journalism Alumni Fellowship. Follow him on Twitter at @joelpollak.