Biden told Netanyahu US won’t back Israeli counterattack on Iran: Report

US President Joe Biden told Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that Washington would not support a counterattack on Iran by Israel, a media report said. Biden conveyed his message to Netanyahu during a call between the two leaders as Iran launched a barrage of drones and missiles directly towards Israeli territory on Sunday.

During the call, Biden also told Netanyahu that the US “will not participate in any offensive operations against Iran and will not support such operations”, a White House official told American newsletter Axios.

To this, Netanyahu replied that he understood, the official added.

The White House official further said that Biden informed Netanyahu that “joint defensive efforts” by the US, Israel and other nations in the region “led to the failure of the Iranian attack”.

The US President then told the Israeli Prime Minister, “you got a win. Take the win.”

In an official statement after his call with Netanyahu, Biden said that he condemned the attacks launched by “Iran and its proxies operating out of Yemen, Syria and Iraq” in the strongest possible terms.

“At my direction, to support the defence of Israel, the US military moved aircraft and ballistic missile defence destroyers to the region over the course of the past week… We helped Israel take down nearly all the incoming drones and missiles,” he was quoted as saying in the statement issued by the White House.

Biden said that he reaffirmed to Netanyahu Washington’s “ironclad commitment to the security of Israel”

“I told him that Israel demonstrated a remarkable capacity to defend against and defeat even unprecedented attacks – sending a clear message to its foes that they cannot effectively threaten the security of Israel.”

The President further informed that on Sunday, he would “convene my fellow G7 leaders to coordinate a united diplomatic response to Iran’s brazen attack”.

“We will remain vigilant to all threats and will not hesitate to take all necessary action to protect our people.”