United States President Joe Biden has reaffirmed his “ironclad” support for Israel during a phone call with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, the White House says, amid an escalation of violence in Gaza and Lebanon.
The call between the two leaders on Wednesday lasted 30 minutes and was their first publicly announced conversation since August.
The White House said in a statement that Vice President Kamala Harris, who is running to succeed Biden in the US presidential election next month, joined the call.
“The president affirmed his ironclad commitment to Israel’s security,” the statement added. “He condemned unequivocally Iran’s ballistic missile attack against Israel on October 1.”
White House spokeswoman Karine Jean-Pierre earlier had described the talks as “direct” and “productive”.
The call comes as Israel considers an attack against Iran in response to Iranian ballistic missile launches that targeted Israeli military sites last week.
Jean-Pierre said Biden and Netanyahu had “discussions” about the confrontation with Iran, without providing further details.
Iran fired a barrage of missiles at Israeli bases last week in an assault that it said was in retaliation for the killing of Hamas chief Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran and the assassinations in Beirut of Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah and an Iranian general.
The US administration pledged to ensure that Iran would face “severe consequences” for the attack.
Asked after the missile launches whether he would support an Israeli strike on Iran’s nuclear facilities, Biden said: “The answer is no.”
Aljazeera
