From the Liveblog of
Saturday, August 3, 2024
Netanyahu feels emboldened to strike Israel’s foes since Biden quit race — report
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is feeling more emboldened to act against Iran after US President Joe Biden dropped out of the 2024 election, according to a report in the Telegraph that cites a senior Israeli official.
The official tells the British newspaper that Biden was seeking to “restrain” Netanyahu while he was still in the race, and had “told him not to respond too harshly to Iran’s attacks.”
“And Iran knew this, which is why they exploited the situation to attack Israel,” adds the official, who says the US president will now do what he “believes is right.”
The official continues: “His true agenda is to support Israel fully. And he has done so for decades. Netanyahu knows this, which is why he’s being more bold and feels confident that he can attack Israel’s enemies and still have the full support of the US,” he added.
The official also says Biden’s decision to end his reelection bid is a “big game changer” in the region because Iran planned to exploit his campaign.
A different senior Israeli official quoted in the report says Biden wants a ceasefire.
“That is how he wants to leave his term. The conversation they (Biden and Netanyahu) held two days ago was tense,” the official adds, echoing other recent reporting on the phone call.
