Netanyahu cancelled immediate retaliation against Iran after Biden call

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has cancelled an immediate retaliatory attack on Iran after it launched around 300 “suicide” drones and missiles at Israel on Saturday, the New York Times reported on Sunday, citing two Israeli officials. The cancellation followed a phone call with US President Joe Biden, and was decided primarily because of the “small amount of damage” caused by the Iranian attack.

According to Ynet website, an Israeli response to the unprecedented Iranian attack will probably not target Iranian territory. It is more likely to be similar to Israeli earlier raids against Iranian targets in Syria and other regional countries.

Israel’s Channel 12 reported that war cabinet members Benny Gantz and Gadi Eisenkot proposed “an immediate response to the attack, but the proposal was rejected.” The war cabinet convened on Sunday at the Defence Ministry headquarters in Tel Aviv to weigh up a response to Tehran.

The Israeli security council authorised Netanyahu, Defence Minister Yoav Gallant and Gantz to determine how Israel will respond to Iran’s attack, which was in retaliation for a 1 April strike on the Iranian Consulate in Damascus. The Israeli attack killed seven members of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), including two generals.

Ynet said that the dilemma for Israel is whether to view the Iranian attack, “according to its intentions or according to its results.”

READ: Russia notes Iran’s claim of self-defence after striking Israel