Biden, Netanyahu Speak on Israel Plans for Retaliation against Iran

US President Joe Biden speaks on the phone with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in this White House handout image taken in the Oval Office in Washington, US, April 4, 2024. (The White House/Handout via Reuters)
US President Joe Biden speaks on the phone with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in this White House handout image taken in the Oval Office in Washington, US, April 4, 2024. (The White House/Handout via Reuters)
TT

Biden, Netanyahu Speak on Israel Plans for Retaliation against Iran

US President Joe Biden speaks on the phone with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in this White House handout image taken in the Oval Office in Washington, US, April 4, 2024. (The White House/Handout via Reuters)
US President Joe Biden speaks on the phone with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in this White House handout image taken in the Oval Office in Washington, US, April 4, 2024. (The White House/Handout via Reuters)

US President Joe Biden spoke by phone with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Wednesday and the two leaders were expected to discuss Israeli plans for a retaliatory strike on Iran.

The call, under way late Wednesday morning US time, was the leaders' first known chat since August and coincided with a sharp escalation of Israel's conflict with both Iran and the Iran-backed Lebanese Hezbollah with no sign of an imminent ceasefire to end the conflict with Iran-backed Hamas in Gaza.

The Middle East has been on edge awaiting Israel's response to a missile attack last week that Tehran carried out in retaliation for Israel's military escalation in Lebanon. The Iranian attack ultimately killed no one in Israel and Washington called it ineffective.

Netanyahu has promised that arch-foe Iran will pay for its missile attack, while Tehran has said any retaliation would be met with vast destruction, raising fears of a wider war in the region which could draw in the United States.

The White House did not respond to a request for comment.

Relations between Biden and Netanyahu have been tense, strained over the Israeli leader’s handling of the war in Gaza and the conflict with Hezbollah.

In "War," a book out next week, journalist Bob Woodward reports that Biden regularly accused Netanyahu of having no strategy, and shouted an expletive at him in July, after Israeli strikes near Beirut and in Iran.

Asked about the book, one US official familiar with the two leaders' past interactions said Biden has used sharp, direct, unfiltered and colorful language both with and about Netanyahu while in office.

Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant canceled a Wednesday visit to the Pentagon, the Pentagon said, as Israeli media reported Netanyahu wanted first to speak with Biden.

Tensions have increased in recent weeks as US officials were repeatedly blindsided by Israeli actions, according to a person familiar with the matter. These included Israel's killing of Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah and the detonation of pagers and walkie-talkies used by Hezbollah members in Lebanon that Israel has neither confirmed nor denied carrying out.

Israel has also been slow to share details of its planning for retaliation against Iran's ballistic missile attack, the person said.

ELECTION ISSUE

Biden has been hit by sharp criticism from international partners as well as members of his own Democratic Party over his inability to use leverage, including the US role as Israel’s chief arms supplier, to curb Netanyahu's attacks.

By extension, Kamala Harris, Biden's vice president and the Democrats' presidential candidate in the Nov. 5 election, has been challenged to defend the administration's policy on the campaign trail.

Many Arab American voters in Michigan, a key battleground state, are backing independent candidate Jill Stein instead, a move that could cost Democrats the state and perhaps the White House in a race with Republican former President Donald Trump that opinion polls show to be very tight.

Harris joined the call with Biden and Netanyahu, according to a person familiar with the matter.

Israel's retaliation is a key subject, with Washington hoping to weigh in on whether the response is appropriate, a separate person briefed on the discussions said.

Israel and Netanyahu in particular have faced widespread condemnation over the nearly 42,000 Palestinians killed in the Gaza war, according to the Palestinian health ministry in Hamas-ruled Gaza, and the deaths of over 2,000 people in Lebanon.

Israel says it is defending itself after Hamas fighters attacked southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, killing 1,200 people and taking 250 hostages, according to Israeli tallies, and from attacks by other fighters including Hezbollah who support Hamas.

IRAN OIL FIELDS

Biden said last Friday he would think about alternatives to striking Iranian oil fields if he were in Israel's shoes, adding he thought Israel had not concluded how to respond to Iran. Last week, he also said he would not support Israel striking Iranian nuclear sites.

Israel has faced calls by the United States and other allies to accept a ceasefire deal in Gaza and Lebanon but has said it will continue its military operations until Israelis are safe.

Biden and Netanyahu were also expected to discuss the conflicts with Hamas in Gaza and with Hezbollah in Lebanon, along with other topics.

The United States has said it supports Israel going after Iran-backed targets like Hezbollah and Hamas.

About three million people in Gaza and Lebanon have been displaced by Israel's military campaigns, according to Palestinian and Lebanese officials, and Gaza is also facing a humanitarian crisis with a lack of food and fresh water.

Israel has said some 70,000 Israelis have been displaced from northern Israel by Hezbollah attacks the past year.



Erdogan Ally Floats Türkiye Constitutional Amendment to Let Him Extend His Tenure

Türkiye’s President and leader of Justice and Development (AK) Party Recep Tayyip Erdogan attends an election campaign rally in Istanbul on March 24, 2024, ahead of the March 31 municipal elections. (AFP)
Türkiye’s President and leader of Justice and Development (AK) Party Recep Tayyip Erdogan attends an election campaign rally in Istanbul on March 24, 2024, ahead of the March 31 municipal elections. (AFP)
TT

Erdogan Ally Floats Türkiye Constitutional Amendment to Let Him Extend His Tenure

Türkiye’s President and leader of Justice and Development (AK) Party Recep Tayyip Erdogan attends an election campaign rally in Istanbul on March 24, 2024, ahead of the March 31 municipal elections. (AFP)
Türkiye’s President and leader of Justice and Development (AK) Party Recep Tayyip Erdogan attends an election campaign rally in Istanbul on March 24, 2024, ahead of the March 31 municipal elections. (AFP)

The main political ally of longstanding Turkish leader Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Tuesday that a constitutional amendment should be considered to allow the president to run again in elections set for 2028.

After his re-election last year, Erdogan is serving his last term as president unless parliament calls an early election, according to the constitution. He has ruled Türkiye for more than 21 years, first as prime minister and then as president.

"Wouldn't it be a natural and right choice to have our president elected once again if terror is eradicated, and if a heavy blow is dealt to inflation and Türkiye secures political and economic stability," said Devlet Bahceli, leader of the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP), which is allied with Erdogan's ruling AK Party (AKP).

A constitutional amendment to secure Erdogan's ability to re-run in the presidential elections should be considered, he said in a parliamentary speech to MHP lawmakers.

Bahceli, a staunch nationalist, rattled Turkish politics last month by suggesting that the jailed leader of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) could be allowed to speak in parliament if he announces an end to the group's insurgency.

Some analysts said the shock suggestion might be motivated by an AKP-MHP desire to win the support of the pro-Kurdish DEM Party, parliament's third-biggest, for a constitutional change that could boost Erdogan's prospects in 2028 elections.

A constitutional change can be put to a referendum if 360 lawmakers in the 600-seat parliament back it. An early election also needs the support of 360 MPs.

AKP and its allies have 321 seats while DEM has 57.