Netanyahu said barring defense minister from heading to US until Biden calls him

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is conditioning Defense Minister Yoav Gallant’s planned visit to the United States, saying it is not approved until Netanyahu speaks with US President Joe Biden, several Hebrew media outlets report. Gallant is supposed to fly in the next few hours, and is set to meet US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin tomorrow.

Netanyahu spoke with Gallant this evening and has said he’s not yet okaying the one-day visit, in which Gallant plans to meet his counterpart and other US officials to discuss Israel’s planned reaction to Iran’s missile attack last week, the reports say, without citing sources.

Channel 12 says Netanyahu has been waiting for what he thinks was a promised call from Biden for the past 10 days.

Channel 12’s report says Netanyahu is also conditioning the trip on the security cabinet first approving Israel’s planned response to the Iranian attack. It says Gallant told Netanyahu on the eve of Rosh Hashanah last week — a day after the Iranian attack — about the invitation he had received from Austin.

The defense minister intends to take senior Defense Ministry officials with him, Channel 12 says, and to discuss coordination with the US regarding the Israeli response to Iran, US support for the defense of Israel in the event of an Iranian response, and issues relating to the deployment of US forces in the area.

It quotes unnamed officials in the Prime Minister’s Office saying there is no point in Gallant making the trip until the cabinet has approved the response to Iran, since that’s the key issue he is supposed to discuss with Austin.

There have been repeated clashes between Gallant and Netanyahu, who has for months been flirting with the option of firing his defense minister.