By Trevor Hunnicutt, Maayan Lubell and Matt Spetalnick
WASHINGTON/JERUSALEM (Reuters) -U.S. President Joe Biden spoke by phone with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Wednesday and the two leaders were expected to discuss Israeli plans for a retaliatory strike on Iran.
The call, under way late Wednesday morning U.S. time, was the leaders' first known chat since August and coincided with a sharp escalation of Israel's conflict with both Iran and the Iran-backed Lebanese Hezbollah with no sign of an imminent ceasefire to end the conflict with Iran-backed Hamas in Gaza.
The Middle East has been on edge awaiting Israel's response to a missile attack last week that Tehran carried out in retaliation for Israel's military escalation in Lebanon. The Iranian attack ultimately killed no one in Israel and Washington called it ineffective.
Netanyahu has promised that arch-foe Iran will pay for its missile attack, while Tehran has said any retaliation would be met with vast destruction, raising fears of a wider war in the oil-producing region which could draw in the United States.
The White House did not respond to a request for comment.
Relations between Biden and Netanyahu have been tense, strained over the Israeli leader’s handling of the war in Gaza and the conflict with Hezbollah.
In "War," a book out next week, journalist Bob Woodward (NASDAQ:WWD) reports that Biden regularly accused Netanyahu of having no strategy, and shouted "Bibi, what the fuck?" at him in July, after Israeli strikes near Beirut and in Iran.
Asked about the book, one U.S. official familiar with the two leaders' past interactions said Biden has used sharp, direct, unfiltered and colorful language both with and about Netanyahu while in office.
Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant canceled a Wednesday visit to the Pentagon, the Pentagon said, as Israeli media reported Netanyahu wanted first to speak with Biden.
Tensions have increased in recent weeks as U.S. officials were repeatedly blindsided by Israeli actions, according to a person familiar with the matter. These included Israel's killing of Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah and the detonation of pagers and walkie-talkies used by Hezbollah members in Lebanon that Israel has neither confirmed nor denied carrying out.
Israel has also been slow to share details of its planning for retaliation against Iran's ballistic missile attack, the person said.
ELECTION ISSUE
Biden has been hit by sharp criticism from international partners as well as members of his own Democratic Party over his inability to use leverage, including the U.S. role as Israel’s chief arms supplier, to curb Netanyahu's attacks.
By extension, Kamala Harris, Biden's vice president and the Democrats' presidential candidate in the Nov. 5 election, has been challenged to defend the administration's policy on the campaign trail.
Many Arab American voters in Michigan, a key battleground state, are backing independent candidate Jill Stein instead, a move that could cost Democrats the state and perhaps the White House in a race with Republican former President Donald Trump that opinion polls show to be very tight.
Harris joined the call with Biden and Netanyahu, according to a person familiar with the matter.
Israel's retaliation is a key subject, with Washington hoping to weigh in on whether the response is appropriate, a separate person briefed on the discussions said.
Israel and Netanyahu in particular have faced widespread condemnation over the nearly 42,000 Palestinians killed in the Gaza war, according to the Palestinian health ministry in Hamas-ruled Gaza, and the deaths of over 2,000 people in Lebanon.
Israel says it is defending itself after Hamas militants attacked southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, killing 1,200 people and taking 250 hostages, according to Israeli tallies, and from attacks by other militants including Hezbollah who support Hamas.
IRAN OIL FIELDS
Biden said last Friday he would think about alternatives to striking Iranian oil fields if he were in Israel's shoes, adding he thought Israel had not concluded how to respond to Iran. Last week, he also said he would not support Israel striking Iranian nuclear sites.
Israel has faced calls by the United States and other allies to accept a ceasefire deal in Gaza and Lebanon but has said it will continue its military operations until Israelis are safe.
Biden and Netanyahu were also expected to discuss the conflicts with Hamas in Gaza and with Hezbollah in Lebanon, along with other topics.
The United States has said it supports Israel going after Iran-backed targets like Hezbollah and Hamas.
About three million people in Gaza and Lebanon have been displaced by Israel's military campaigns, according to Palestinian and Lebanese officials, and Gaza is also facing a humanitarian crisis with a lack of food and fresh water. Israel has said some 70,000 Israelis have been displaced from northern Israel by Hezbollah attacks the past year.