Iran, Israel’s arch-nemesis, has sworn revenge for the killing of two of its generals along with five military advisers in an air strike on an Iranian diplomatic compound in Damascus.
US President Joe Biden and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu discussed that threat during a short phone call they held on Thursday night.
“They did talk about a very public and very viable real threat by Iran to Israel security,” US National Security Communications Advisor John Kirby told reporters in Washington.
The White House, in a read-out of the calls, clarified that Biden “made clear that the US strongly supports Israel in the face of those threats.”
At the start of a security cabinet meeting on Thursday night, Netanyahu said “Iran has been acting against us for years, directly and through its proxies.
“Israel is acting against Iran and its proxies, both defensively and offensively,” Netanyahu stated. “We will know how to defend ourselves, and we will act based on the principle that we will harm those who attack us or intend to attack us.”
Israel’s armed forces – stretched by nearly six months of the war in the Gaza Strip and on the Northern front – announced they were suspending leave for all combat units a day after they said they were mobilizing more troops for air defense units.
The possibility of Iran retaliating for Monday’s alleged Israeli air strike on Iran’s embassy compound in Damascus has raised the specter of a wider war, though two Iranian sources said Tehran’s response would be calibrated to avoid escalation.
Reuters journalists and residents of Israel’s commercial hub, Tel Aviv, said GPS services had been disrupted, an apparent measure to help ward off guided missiles.
Iran swears revenge
Iran, Israel’s arch-nemesis, has sworn revenge for the killing of two of its generals along with five military advisers in an air strike on an Iranian diplomatic compound in the Syrian capital on Monday.
Israel is believed to have carried out the strike, among the most significant yet on Iranian interests in Tehran’s close ally Syria. Israel has neither confirmed nor denied involvement.
Since then, investors have been on edge. The Tel Aviv Stock Exchange’s main TA-125 share index fell another 2.2% on Thursday to extend losses this week to around 4%. The shekel was 0.6% weaker versus the dollar at a 3.73 rate and government bond prices were down as much as 0.4%.
“In accordance with the situational assessment, it has been decided that leave will be temporarily paused for all IDF combat units,” the military said in a statement. “The IDF is at war and the deployment of forces is under continuous assessment according to requirements.”
With Israelis anxious about a possible escalation, the military later issued a statement clarifying that no changes had been made in its guidelines for the home front and that there was no need to gather food, cash, or generators.
Israel has been pressing its war on Hamas in Gaza since the terrorist group led a cross-border killing and kidnapping spree on October 7 and has also been trading fire almost daily with Iran-backed Hezbollah in Lebanon.
Yemen’s Houthi rebels, who are aligned with Tehran, have launched occasional long-range rockets at Israel’s Eilat Port.
Earlier in the evening, Netanyahu met with a Republican US Congressional Delegation organized by the American Israel Policy Affairs Committee (AIPAC).
He told them that US support for Israel has never been more vital, as he explained that Israel was battling forces that were also hostile to the United States, including the Iranian proxy groups Hamas and Hezbollah.
“Our battle is your battle. Our victory is your victory. And if we don’t have a victory, this will have enormous implications for American security, for our common future,” he said.
Passage of the supplemental bill offering military aid to Israel and Ukraine would help Jerusalem secure a faster victory, Netanyahu stressed.
”Give us the tools, and we’ll do the job. Give us the tools faster, and we’ll finish the job faster. I’m talking about the supplemental. I hope you find a way to give it as fast as you can,” he stated.
Reuters contributed to this report.
