Two U.S. officials said Israeli leaders still told the U.S. last week that even though U.S. military officials had discussed the possibility of supporting Israeli retaliation with their own intelligence and airstrikes, two U.S. officials said It does not provide specific details of the military response to Iran’s ballistic missile attack.
Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin met with Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant on Sunday night, and one former and two current officials familiar with the meeting said the two discussed a potential response, but they did not know when. He said Israel had not reached a final decision on what it could do. Israeli officials met Sunday morning to discuss response options, two U.S. officials said.
U.S. officials said they did not believe Israel had made a final decision on the details of its response, but were narrowing down and finalizing options in additional meetings yesterday and today. The options being considered include targeting Iran’s military and intelligence infrastructure, air defenses and energy facilities, officials said. Gallant and Austin did not discuss the possibility of targeting nuclear facilities, officials said.
Three U.S. officials said they were concerned about a possible Israeli reaction while Mr. Gallant met with Mr. Austin in Washington this week, a visit Mr. Gallant initiated.
U.S. military officials discussed options to join Israel in retaliating against Iran after Iran fired about 200 ballistic missiles toward Israel last week, according to two U.S. officials familiar with the discussions.
The U.S. has supported Israel with intelligence for years, and both officials said that support could continue while Israel carries out retaliatory strikes against Iran. Senior U.S. military officials are also discussing carrying out very limited strikes against Iranian targets, the officials said. Attacks inside Iran as well as attacks against targets outside Iran are being discussed, but attacks of any kind are less likely than intelligence sharing, officials said.
Officials say the United States will disrupt Iranian military support for regional proxies by targeting Iranian assets at sea or attacking Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps positions supporting militias in Yemen and Syria. It is possible to try. U.S. strikes against Iranian targets, like previous U.S. strikes against Iranian-related targets in Yemen, Iraq, and Syria, could be considered defensive if they eliminate a potential threat to the U.S. or its allies. There is sex.
Administration officials stressed that the United States intends to support Israel’s right to self-defense, but that no decisions have yet been made regarding U.S. action. The three U.S. officials said they do not expect the U.S. to directly support Israel’s response, but instead expect the U.S. to support Israel by imposing strong sanctions against Iran. He said there was.
The three officials said the U.S. is likely to play an active role in Israel’s response because Israel did not give concrete assurances to the U.S. that it would notify the U.S. of its plans well in advance of any action. He said it had become.
Israel and the Pentagon did not respond to requests for comment.
Gallant asked to come to the United States
As Israel considers its response, U.S. officials are seeking clues about the timing, including Gallant’s travel schedule. Mr. Austin is scheduled to meet with Mr. Gallant at the Pentagon on Wednesday. Mr. Gallant was the person who proposed coming to the United States, two U.S. officials familiar with the plan said.
Typically, countries do not launch major military actions while their senior leaders are abroad, but Israel has attacked Hezbollah leader Hassan in Beirut while Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was in New York for the United Nations General Assembly. They killed Mr. Nasrallah and dispelled that idea. Some U.S. officials believe Israeli retaliation could occur while Gallant is in Washington.
According to multiple U.S. officials, Austin was frustrated and angry that Israel had not notified the United States of its intentions to target Nasrallah. Gallant and Austin have spoken multiple times each week in recent months, and Gallant has informed Austin that operations against Nasrallah are underway.
In a meeting with reporters Monday morning, Pentagon spokesman Maj. Gen. Pat Ryder did not directly respond to a question about whether Israel had assured U.S. officials it would not surprise them again.
“Secretary Austin and Minister Gallant are in very regular contact,” Ryder said. “We clearly recognize that it is beneficial to be aware of our activities in this region for several reasons. We will keep these lines of communication open.”
Normally, senior U.S. leaders would not be in Israel if it were to launch an attack like the expected retaliation against Iran. Gen. Michael “Eric” Kurilla, the commander of U.S. Central Command, was in Israel over the weekend but has now left the country and is not expected to return soon, according to U.S. officials familiar with his dynamic travel schedule. It is said that it is not expected to happen soon. And U.S. officials said they have made it clear that Israel is not ruling out a response during this week’s Yom Kippur holiday.
The United States and Iran have been communicating to each other since Oct. 7 that neither side wants the conflict to escalate, according to one former and two current U.S. officials. U.S. officials believe that Iran does not want direct war with Israel and the United States unless a major attack on Iran’s nuclear infrastructure halts or significantly reverses its nuclear program.
