The Biden administration said Israel reassured it that it would not target nuclear or oil facilities in Iran.
The administration also believes that sending a U.S. Terminal High Altitude Area Defense battery to Israel and roughly 100 soldiers to operate it has eased some of Israel’s concerns about possible Iranian retaliation and general security issues.
The Pentagon on Sunday announced the THAAD deployment to help bolster Israel’s air defenses following Iran’s ballistic missile attacks on Israel in April and October, saying it was authorized at the direction of President Joe Biden.
However, the U.S. 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 on fulfilling assurances in the past is mixed and has often reflected domestic Israeli politics that have upended Washington’s expectations.
The most recent example of that was last month when U.S. officials were told by their Israeli counterparts that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu would welcome a U.S.- and French-led temporary cease-fire initiative for Lebanon only to see Israel launch a massive airstrike that killed Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah two days later.
Netanyahu’s office said in a statement "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 been bracing for an expected response from Israel after Iran launched roughly 180 ballistic missiles on Oct. 1, in retaliation to Israeli provocations, including the assassination of Hamas political bureau chief Ismail Haniyeh and revolutionary guard commanders. The tit-for-tat strikes and uncertainty about whether Israel might strike strategically important energy and nuclear sites in Iran have raised fears about escalation into an all-out regional war.
Israel’s attacks on Gaza have expanded into a ground invasion of Lebanon, completely disregarding global calls to halt the illegal invasion.
Biden has said he would not support a retaliatory Israeli strike on sites related to Tehran’s nuclear program and urged Israel to consider alternatives to hitting Iran’s oil sector. Such a strike could affect the global oil market and boost pump prices just ahead of the U.S. presidential election.
Biden and Netanyahu spoke by phone last week for the first time in seven weeks, while Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin has been speaking regularly with his Israeli counterpart, Yoav Gallant.
The Pentagon said in a readout of a call from Sunday that the U.S. has reaffirmed its support for Israel’s security but urged it to ensure protections for U.N. peacekeepers in southern Lebanon, shift from military operations to a diplomatic solution and "raised concern for the dire humanitarian situation in Gaza and stressed that steps must be taken soon to address it.”
The White House National Security Council declined to confirm that Netanyahu offered Biden any assurances about targets.
"Our commitment to Israel’s defense is ironclad,” the White House National Security Council said in a statement. "We will not discuss private diplomatic discussions and would refer you to the Israeli government to speak to their own potential military operations.”
