Biden and aides advise Israel to avoid widening war with Hezbollah strike
U.S. officials acted after they learned that the Israeli defense minister and other military officials supported a pre-emptive strike on Hezbollah, the New York Times has reported.
Biden met with Netanyahu and his war cabinet on Wednesday.
Biden and his top aides have been urging Israeli leaders against carrying out any major strike against Hezbollah that could draw it into the Israel-Hamas war, American and Israeli officials say.
U.S. officials are concerned that some of the more hawkish members of Israel’s war cabinet have wanted to take on Hezbollah even as Israel began a long conflict against Hamas after the Oct. 7 attacks.
"The Americans are conveying to the Israelis the difficulties of battling both Hamas in the south and a much more powerful Hezbollah force in the north," the New York Times said.
"U.S. officials believe Israel would struggle in a two-front war and that such a conflict could draw in both the United States and Iran, the militia’s (Hezbollah's) main supporter," the newspaper added.
American officials have advised Israeli counterparts in meetings this week to take care that their actions in the north against Hezbollah and in the south in Gaza do not give Hezbollah an easy pretext to enter the war.
"Those sensitive talks took place during Mr. Biden’s visit to Tel Aviv on Wednesday and during Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken’s long negotiations in Israel earlier this week," the New York Times said.
One of the biggest champions of a pre-emptive attack on Hezbollah has been Yoav Gallant, the defense minister, who has argued Israel’s main military effort should be focused on Hezbollah since it poses a greater threat than Hamas, the officials said.
"Gallant told Mr. Blinken in a small meeting on Monday that he had advocated the previous week to launch a pre-emptive strike on Hezbollah, but was overruled by other officials," said a person familiar with the discussion.
Biden met on Wednesday with the Israeli war cabinet, where Gallant was present, and underscored the dangers of a two-front war by asking tough questions about the many consequences for Israel of a full-scale conflict with Hezbollah, officials said. Biden also raised the specters of the disastrous decisions by American officials to invade Iraq and to wage a long, open-ended war in Afghanistan.
Netanyahu has refrained from backing a major attack on Hezbollah, despite the encouragement of Gallant and senior military generals, U.S. and Israeli officials said. The Israeli military has meanwhile not reacted with overwhelming force to the ongoing low-level rocket fire from Hezbollah.
Source: Naharnet
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